Shrimp fishermen and processors have mounted an online petition drive aimed at persuading state regulators to increase the amount of shrimp that can be landed this season.

If no changes are made to the quota of 2,000 metric tons, industry officials say, some of Maine’s shrimp processors could lose overseas markets that took them years to build. Those losses also would hurt fishermen, many of whom rely on shrimp fishing in the winter to supplement their income from lobstering or ground fishing.

Additional Photos

James Rich maneuvers a bulging net full of northern shrimp caught in the Gulf of Maine. New England fishermen have been casting their nets for Gulf of Maine northern shrimp since the season began Jan. 2, but their season could be cut short if their catches are too strong. Regulators are meeting Thursday in South Portland to assess where the overall harvest stands. APRobert F. Bukaty

“It is the one thing that is going on along the coast of Maine from January to March that puts a paycheck in more than 1,500 people’s pockets,” said John Norton, owner of Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland.

Norton, part of the group that came up with the idea for the petition at SaveOurShrimp.org, said the Maine shrimp fleet totaled about 280 boats last year and employed about 1,500 people between boat crews, processing workers, truckers and dock workers.

The value of shrimp landings in 2011 totaled $10.5 million, according to Save Our Shrimp.

The current season, which began Jan. 2, allows trawlers to drag for shrimp. The shrimp trapping season – when fishermen use herring or pogies as bait – won’t begin until Feb. 1.

The catch limit, regardless of fishing style, will remain at 2,000 metric tons unless the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Section votes to reconsider the scientific data it used to limit this season in the Gulf of Maine.

The panel is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Portland Marriott Hotel at Sable Oaks in South Portland.

The commission is made up of representatives from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. There is one voting representative from each state, though in 2011 Maine boats landed more than 85 percent of the shrimp.

In November, regulators reduced the 2012 fishing quota by 70 percent, according to Save Our Shrimp, based on a computer model that warned of declining stocks.

That led to the petition and website, which went online Saturday. Norton said more than 600 people have signed the petition.

Gary Libby of Port Clyde, who fishes for shrimp, groundfish and lobsters, said, “I’m used to being regulated to death.”

During this shrimp season, he is restricted to fishing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – a schedule that doesn’t account for bad winter weather. On the days when he does fish, he must have his shrimp nets out of the water by 3 p.m.

The quota, in Libby’s opinion, is overly restrictive. He said he could live with a limit of 3,000 metric tons.

Arnold Gamage Jr. fishes out of South Bristol, using traps to catch shrimp. Because the trap season won’t start until Feb. 1, all he can do is wait while landings approach the season’s quota.

He would like to see an earlier opening date for trap fishing and have the quota increased.

Unlike trawlers, trap fishermen can fish seven days a week, but are limited to 1,000 pounds of shrimp per day.

“We’re sitting around and chewing our fingernails off,” Gamage said Monday. “We’ve got financial obligations we need to meet, and now there is no guarantee we can meet them” because they won’t have enough time to fish.

“We need better scientific data,” said Marshall Alexander, who fishes out of Biddeford Pool.

He and Gamage said regulators have never before set a catch limit for shrimp. Past seasons have been limited by dates.

Alexander worries that processors like Cozy Harbor could be hurt if they lose their overseas markets.

“That’s where the money is, because Americans don’t eat cold-water shrimp,” said Alexander, who has been fishing for 40 years.

Norton said Save Our Shrimp will present a revised assessment of the shrimp stock to state regulators on Thursday. Steven Cadrin, a fisheries scientist from the University of Massachusetts, will recommend that the quota be raised to 4,500 metric tons.

Norton said the panel must change the limit or the industry could suffer long-term damage.

Over the last five years, Cozy Harbor, which employs 175 workers, invested more than $2.5 million in new processing equipment. The company sells its products to customers in the United States and Europe. Norton said the demand is greatest overseas.

“If we can’t fill our customers’ orders they will go somewhere else,” Norton said, including China and Canada.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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