Cold winter may delay shrimp season to June

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (AP) — Officials say colder than normal temperatures this winter likely mean the shrimp season in South Carolina will start later.

Sunday’s Blessing of the Fleet and Seafood Festival in Mount Pleasant typically means the shrimping season is a week or two away.

But state Department of Natural Resources Assistant Marnie Scientist Michael Kendrick says the cold winter that spread all the way to the coast caused more fish and shellfish to die off the coast than just four other winters since the 1950s.

Kendrick told The Post and Courier of Charleston that trawl nets used by scientists to survey how many shrimp are in the ocean are coming back empty more often than not.

Kendrick says the state agency delayed opening state waters to shrimping until June during similar winters.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com