Shrimp trawling off Texas coast now closed


Fresh shrimp from the Texas Gulf coast may be a little harder to get in the coming months.

Federal waters from 9 to 200 nautical miles off the Texas coast closed to shrimp trawling 30 minutes after sunset on Sunday, May 15, according to a news release from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This closure corresponds to the time Texas closes its state waters to shrimp trawling.

The release said that the shrimp fishery is closed annually off Texas to allow brown shrimp to reach a larger and more valuable size prior to harvest. The closure helps prevent waste of brown shrimp that might otherwise be discarded due to their small size.

The closure will range from 45 to 60 days.

The closing date is based on catch rates of brown shrimp collected with seine gear by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The data includes the mean length of shrimp collected in April, the percentage of samples containing shrimp and periods of maximum nocturnal ebb tidal flow.

State waters will be reopened to shrimp trawling based on sampling projections of when brown shrimp will reach a mean size of 112 mm, and when the maximum duration of ebb tides will occur, the release said.

Federal waters will be reopened when Texas reopens state waters. Historically, the reopening date is July 15.

Notification of the date will be published in the Federal Register and announced in a NOAA bulletin.

Watch issues of the South Jetty for information when the shrimp trawl will reopen.

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