Poor harvests, new restrictions pinch Texas shrimpers

The shrimping industry nets $500 million for Texas each year, and the state government is hoping new regulations will protect the industry from overfishing

August 16, 2000
Web posted at: 4:10 PM EDT (2010 GMT)

From Joel Hochmuth
CNN Newsroom Correspondent

(CNN) -- For the first time in more than 10 years, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife is proposing new restrictions on the shrimping industry. The state agency contends there are signs of over harvesting, but some shrimpers think the changes will make their hard lives even harder.

"It's a lot like communism. In the communist country they start taking your freedom away from you a little bit at a time. They don't take it away from you all at once because you'll rebel. So they just pinch you and pinch you," said shrimper Vernon Bates, who has fished the bays along the Texas gulf coast for more than 50 years.

But Texas wildlife officials said the changes are necessary to protect the gulf fishery. Landings of gulf shrimp in Texas have declined by nearly 30 percent since 1972.

"We see this as a necessary series of steps to make sure that we have a viable shrimping industry on into the future," said Andrew Sansom of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Among the proposals, the state wants to increase the minimum size of shrimp that fishermen like Bates could bring in, put more coastal waters off limits for shrimping and shorten some shrimping seasons.

The rules are designed to increase the number of juvenile shrimp that mature to spawning size. But Bates claims officials are overlooking a bigger problem. "They don't ever address pollution. They leave the pollution behind. It's always the fishermen that are depleting the supply of shrimp," he said.

Shrimping is big business in Texas. More than 70 million pounds are caught each year, worth $500 million to the state economy. Some in the industry say hundreds of jobs could be lost if the restrictions are approved.

"It's not just for the shrimp wholesaler shrimp boat, but it's going to be for the people that sell the diesel. It's going to be the people that sell the hardware for the boat. It's going to affect a lot," said Thuy Vu, a shrimp wholesaler.

Wildlife officials say the restrictions won't put anyone out of work. The bigger danger is to do nothing, they say.

"You have to admire those people," Samson said. "Working on a shrimp boat is hard and they're scratching out a living. But at the same time, they need to co-manage the fishery with us in such a way that there's some shrimp that'll be left for their children to catch." Bates doesn't agree.

"We don't need any more restrictions. We need less restrictions. The shrimp will always be here, but whether we'll be here remains with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife," he said.

The state of Texas is expected to announce its final decision on the restrictions August 31. If that happens, some shrimpers say they plan to sue.

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Texas Parks and Wildlife

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