Summer and fall seasons will follow the spring season.
Stretch zone hilton head plus#
“It ranges from a small skiff to 70-foot plus boat,” Brunson says of the 350-some boats in South Carolina licensed to shrimp. The total shrimp harvest - there are spring, summer and fall seasons - has averaged 2.6 million pounds between 20, with a value of $8 million annually, with the vast majority white and brown shrimp.īoats that land their catches in Beaufort County account for about 25 percent of spring and overall harvests, according to SCDNR. “Even beyond that, without cold kill events, there’s a lot of variability,” Brunson said.
In 2018, when the state had a rare snowstorm, the statewide spring shrimp harvest plummeted to 24,000 pounds, with the season opener delayed until the end of June. “Cold kills,” for instance, can delay the opening of the season. In the last five years, the harvest has trended upward, but totals vary greatly, largely due to the weather, Brunson said. The dockside value of that catch has averaged $1.9 million. Over the past 20 years, the spring harvest of whole, head-on white roe shrimp between April and June in South Carolina has averaged 593,000 pounds, the SCDNR says. Shrimp is among the state’s top four fisheries - the others are oysters, fin fish and crabs - and Beaufort County plays a big role in it. Helena and Port Royal sounds, on opening day of shrimp season Thursday. Sea Eagle Market’s Lydia Leigh near Pritchards Inlet, southwest of Fripp Island and between St. And offspring from the spring spawning stock was abundant enough to support the important fall shrimp crop, Brunson added. That will ensure a sustainable spring harvest. Short-lived white shrimp are vulnerable to cold water temperatures and unusually wet or dry summers, which can cause their numbers to fluctuate dramatically from year to year, Brunson said.īut the December cold spell, Brunson said, “didn’t seem to have any major impact on the resource itself,” even though it may have caused changes in migration or distribution.Īdequate spawning has occurred, Brunson says. Essentially, for the most part, they are going to try to get out there and harvest these higher valued shrimp.”Ī cold snap in December did raise concerns that this year’s harvest would be lower, Brunson said.
“Shrimpers are going to be gearing up for this opening day. “It is a big deal,” said Jeff Brunson, crustacean fisheries manager for the state Department of Natural Resource’s Office of Fisheries Management. Large, adult white shrimp up to 8 inches long are being harvested now, with a few browns mixed in. The opening of the commercial shrimp trawling season means fresh shrimp will soon be more widely available at docks and markets along the coast. He suspects recent cool weather and more northeasterly winds than usual. Craig Reaves caught these Shrimp from the Gracie Belle Thursday.
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