Maine shrimp project won't yield seafood for public in 2018

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A shrimp research project will not yield extra shrimp for the public to buy this year as it has in the past.

The New England shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013 because relatively few of the creatures are reaching maturity. But fishermen from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have typically participated in a sampling project that has provided a small amount of shrimp to seafood markets.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced that this year it will pay a shrimp trawler up to $3,450 to collect samples in the mid-coast area starting in late January. The department said in a statement that no shrimp can be kept or sold this year and that "the purpose is to collect samples.