Biloxi Mississippi- Shrimpers found out how to get a new fishing permit that will put a cap on the number of boats the government will allow to work in federal waters.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official unveiled the federal regulations that will put a 10-year prohibition on any new authorizations to fish for shrimp in the U.S. exclusive economic zone, which lies three nautical miles off the Mississippi coast. NOAA’s Mark Godcharles said the new limitations will go into effect at the end of March 2007 and fishermen must meet several requirements to be granted the right to keep trawling. NOAA’s fisheries service, which grants the right to fish in federal waters, will give permits only to those who had them in or before 2003 and to boats that have a work history of catching shrimp in the Gulf. Benny Gallaway, a fisheries scientist with LGL Ecological Research Associates, said data to successfully manage Gulf shrimp and the red snapper which are accidentally caught in shrimpers’ nets is inadequate. He said recently reported numbers indicating 80 percent of red snapper were killed in shrimp nets is wrong. He said the scientific consensus is that 74 percent of the fish die naturally while 26 percent are killed in shrimp nets.