An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission panel meeting today in Portland, Maine, is scheduled to determine whether to have a moratorium on shrimp fishing this winter.

Commercial fishing regulators are meeting today in Maine to determine the dates of the upcoming northern shrimp season - or if there will even be a season. An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission panel (above) is meeting in Portland.

In an assessment of the shrimp population, an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries committee is calling for a moratorium on shrimp fishing moratorium this winter. Maine's Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says he hopes it won't go that far.

"I don't support a 'no season,'" he says. "I think we're at a point where we can take a do no harm approach and still allow a small fishery to take place. I mean we're talking about a couple of hundred boats, a couple of hundred families, and shoreside infrastructure. It's important to the state of Maine."

Last year about 90 percent of the New England shrimp catch was landed in Maine. If a season is allowed, the committee says it shouldn't start until at least half of the shrimp have hatched their eggs, typically around mid-February.

Shrimp provide a small, but valuable, fishery for fishermen.

This story was reported by Tom Porter.
Photo by Tom Porter.