SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Fishery regulators are meeting to assess the Gulf of Maine shrimp harvest so far this season and discuss whether more restrictions are needed to keep the catch in check.
An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission committee is meeting in South Portland on Thursday to discuss where the overall harvest stands. If it's too high, regulators could further restrict shrimp fishermen by limiting daily catches or cutting back how often they can go to sea.
Shrimp processors and fishermen are urging the panel to increase this year's quota of 4.4 million pounds, which is a barely a third of last year's catch.
They say this year's quota is too low and based on a flawed scientific formula.
Northern shrimp provide a winter fishery for hundreds of New England fishermen.
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