Massachusetts Shrimp Trawler to be Hired for Study of Imperiled Species

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

BOSTON (AP) — Government fishing managers will hire a shrimp fisherman from Massachusetts to help perform research about the future of the New England shrimp fishery.

The interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries say they want to hire a shrimp trawling vessel to collect samples of Northern shrimp. The fishermen will also be allowed to bring 1,200 pounds of shrimp per week to shore and sell them.

The project will begin on Jan. 15, 2017 and last eight weeks.

Regulators are also hiring shrimp trawlers and trappers from Maine and New Hampshire to collect samples.

Scientists say warming oceans have hurt the shrimp’s ability to reproduce. Regulators shut the fishery down in 2013.

They were previously a popular winter seafood item in New England and elsewhere.