PORTLAND, Maine - Fishery regulators last night heard testimony about the future of the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery. The winter shrimping season has been canceled the last two years because of worry about declining numbers of shrimp.
Steve Train is a commercial fisherman who sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which oversees the shrimp fishery.
"We've got a serious problem of population of the stock right now," Train said, "and the only regulatory tools we have are to regulate the effort of the fisherman. And probably the stock decline had less to do with the fishermen than it did with the changes in the climate, the environmental conditions and the water temperatures."
About 30 fishermen turned out for last night's hearing in Portland. Another is planned for the fall.
Meanwhile the state is planning a hearing Wednesday about proposed new limits to scalloping.