Shrimp Season Opens Today

The fleets are blessed, and South Carolina shrimpers are open for business…early.

As of 8:00 this morning, shrimping season opened in South Carolina’s General Trawl Zone (GTZ) waters.

Generally, shrimp season doesn’t open until mid-May, but warmer water temperatures sped up the process this year – only a year after cold water temperatures killed the shrimp and postponed the season’s opening until June.

According to Mel Bell, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Director of Office of Fisheries Management, “This is the earliest we have chosen to open the entire GTZ to trawling since 1974, but these are also the warmest coastal water temperatures during this time of year we have experienced since 1974. We are hoping for good spring landings of white shrimp and an improved follow-on crop of white shrimp in the fall.”

With three shrimp seasons on the state’s calendar, this first season of the year focuses on white roe shrimp. DNR officials say this generates the most value for fishing effort with early season prices being relatively high.

The brown shrimp season generally takes place during the summer, and the offspring of the spring shrimp make up the fall’s shrimp season.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McClaskey