Regulators have upped the amount of shrimp that can be caught in the Gulf of Maine, but some say the higher catch limit won't make much difference.

More than 150 fishermen and processors packed into a meeting room Thursday morning in South Portland, where a committee voted to raise the catch limit to 4.9 million pounds. It was 4.4 million.

Shrimpers say a catch between 6 million and 10 million pounds is needed to sustain their industry.


"People have families, they've got have payments, they have light bills every body's got bills and we have to survive and we don't want to be on welfare, these people want to work they're hard working people," said Eugene Carter.

Regulators say the limit set is the highest it can go without putting the shrimp population at risk.

Print this Story