The Prince William Sound commercial shrimp pot fishery wrapped up its first opener of the season on April 19, and the preliminary results are in: 33 boats caught about 10,000 pounds over five days.The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reopened the fishery at 8 a.m. yesterday, and boats can keep catching until 8 p.m. April 29. The quota for the season is 52,760 pounds.
This is the second consecutive year for a commercial shrimp pot harvest in the Prince William Sound. The fishery previously was closed for 18 years due to weak shrimp stocks.
In 2010 the fleet took 45,349 pounds of shrimp out of a quota of 55,000 pounds.
Shrimpers haul up predominantly spot shrimp, also known as spot prawns, in their pots.
These are big, luscious shrimp, the kind Forrest Gump and Bubba Blue could talk about all day long.
Spot shrimp are the largest variety of shrimp in the North Pacific. They take their name from the white, paired spots located just behind the head and just in front of the tail.