Georgia May Cut Shrimp Season Over Cold Weather

The Department of Natural Resources is reconsidering its decision to extend the shrimping season through January because of a recent cold snap that decimated the shrimp population in coastal waters, a department official said today.

Informal talks with shrimpers this week indicated that the cold spell had reduced the shrimp population. The department confirmed the damage Thursday when the majority of shrimp caught during test trawling near Brunswick were dead, said Duane Harris, director of the department’s coastal resources division.

“The water temperatures got extremely low, probably as low as we’ve ever recorded. The majority of what we caught yesterday are dead,” Harris said. “At this point we’re reconsidering the decision to extend the season to January.”

The agency decided last month to extend the commercial season because shrimp were abundant in coastal waters. But, Harris said, that decision appears moot since most of the adult shrimp have died. He said the department wants to protect the small number of shrimp that survived the freezing temperatures.

Commercial shrimpers are concerned about the weather’s impact on juvenile shrimp, also known as “over-winter” shrimp, which make up the spawning population for the 1990 harvest, said Frank Mathews, owner of Mathews Seafood in Savannah.

“There may have been damage to the juvenile shrimp that stayed on the inside (in shallow coastal waters), the ones that didn’t migrate (to deeper, warmer water),” Mathews said.

“Over-winter” shrimp do not migrate from shallow waters until spring when they mature and hatch a new crop of shrimp, Mathews said.

Test trawling will continue next week throughout coastal Georgia, and Harris said he expects the news to become grimmer.