PORTLAND (AP) – Shrimp fishermen will be allowed to cast their nets for twice as many days as last year for the upcoming season as regulators agreed Tuesday to schedule 140-day fishing seasons for both 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

A panel of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission agreed to have the seasons run from Dec. 12 to April 30 for both years in an effort to encourage shrimp processors to invest time and money in equipment and in developing markets for the catch.

Traditionally, regulators set the dates for one year at a time.

After several boom shrimp fishing years in the 1990s, shrimp stocks fell – forcing the commission to shorten the season for shrimp fishermen. The season was just 25 days in 2002-03, 38 days in 2003-04 and 70 days in 2004-05.

With the short seasons, processors fell by the wayside and markets evaporated.

The shrimp population has now rebounded, according to scientific stock assessments.

Fishermen urged regulators to set the dates for two seasons so there would be enough processors to handle what is expected to be an increased catch.

Northern shrimp provide a small but valuable fishery to the New England states. Last year, an estimated 200 or so boats fished for shrimp, roughly three-quarters of them from Maine with the rest coming from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

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