Jeff Sanders, right, carries a container of freshly caught Gulf of Maine shrimp, which are naturally a pinkish-orange color when raw, off a fishing boat on the first day of New England's shrimp-fishing season Wednesday in Portsmouth, N.H. At left is Mike Sanders, who owns a family fish market with his brother Jeff, and at center is fishing boat captain Kurt Lange.
PORTLAND — Shrimp fishermen are casting their nets with the start of New England's shrimp-fishing season.
The season got under way Wednesday, but isn't expected to last long with a quota of only 1.4 million pounds, down sharply from last year's catch of 5.3 million pounds.
Net fishermen this winter have a quota of 1.2 million pounds and can fish only two days a week.
Trap fishermen can begin pulling their shrimp traps on Feb. 5. They have a quota of 200,000 pounds.
Shrimp fishing provides a small but important winter fishery. Maine boats account for about 90 percent of the catch, with New Hampshire and Massachusetts boats catching the rest.
Scientists recommended a low quota this year because the shrimp population is in poor shape due to environmental conditions.
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