PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A regulatory panel that oversees New England’s shrimp fishing industry is scheduled to meet to discuss the industry’s future, which looks bleak.
The New England shrimp fishery, based mostly in Maine, has been shut down since 2013, and is in the middle of a fishing moratorium that is scheduled to last until 2021. The regulatory panel, which is an arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is slated to meet Friday and could alter the terms of the shutdown.
However, the panel isn’t expected to make any drastic changes, because the shrimp population is still in poor shape. Scientists say the region’s shrimp population has suffered as the waters of the Gulf of Maine have warmed.
The shrimp were formerly a popular winter seafood item in Maine and beyond.
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