News Release Oregon Trawl Commission. Oregon’s pink shrimp fleet agreed to suspend harvesting operations today, due to an overabundance of sub-legal sized shrimp. After six years of record catches, the fleet was expecting the worst after this winter’s El Nino was elevated to ‘super’ status, as the warm water associated with an El Nino is usually detrimental to shrimp recruitment, but those fears have been erased. The start of this year’s season was delayed for three weeks over a price dispute, but once the nets hit the water, fishermen were surprised to see a strong year class of 1-year-old shrimp in the water. “It looks like we dodged a bullet,” said Newport-based shrimp fishermen Ted Gibson. “The last two big El Ninos in 1982-83 and 1997-98 really depressed the stocks, so we’re pretty happy to see that last year’s hatch survived through the winter.” Shrimp fishermen and processors have been talking over the past week about how best to deal with the issue. Since Oregon pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani) is a very fast growing species, getting the boats off the water was deemed the best way to ensure Oregon’s run of successful seasons continues. “It just makes sense,” said Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission. “The additional time for the shrimp to grow means more money for fishermen in the long run and consumers will continue to get a premium product when fishing resumes.” Oregon’s pink shrimp fishery is the world’s first certified sustainable shrimp fishery (Marine Stewardship Council 2007) and the 2015 harvest led the state in ex-vessel value, exceeding $40 million.
