Maine shrimp biz may be shell of itself
PORTLAND, Maine — Glen Libby looks back fondly on his days as a Maine shrimp trawler, but he’s concerned about what seafood lovers will think if the shuttered fishery ever reopens.
“Shrimp? What are those?” he said. “There will be a market. But it depends how big of a market you’re talking about.”
Maine’s historic shrimp industry has been closed since 2013 due to a loss in population of shrimp off of New England that is tied in large part to warming oceans. And with a reopening likely several years away — if it ever happens at all — Libby and others who formerly worked in the business are grappling with how much of the industry they’ll be able to salvage if the time ever comes.
The state’s shrimp fishery was traditionally a winter industry, but it’s in the midst of its sixth straight season with no participation because of a governmentimposed moratorium. Fishermen, wholesalers, distributors and others in the seafood buzsiness lament the industry wouldn’t be in a good position to return right away even if fishing for the little, sweet pink shrimp was allowed.
If Maine shrimping does come back, it will likely be at a smaller scale, centered on local retail as opposed to freezing the product for export around the country and internationally, said Bert Jongerden, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange auction house.
“I mean, I think people would remember it. But you couldn’t be dumping millions of pounds of shrimp into the market expecting to get rid of it,” Jongerden said. “It would have to be a slow build up.”
Decisions about the future of the fishery are made by an arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission which voted in November to extend the fishing moratorium for another three years.
Stephenie Pinkham, who was executive director of the Maine Shrimp Trappers Association when it was active, is hopeful. She hears from Mainers that they miss the product, and is confident they’ll buy it if the fishery ever reopens.
“A shrimp market is definitely out there,” Pinkham said.