Today's sunset will bring an end to what many fishermen have called the worst fall white-shrimp season in recent memory.
The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced last week that most inside waters would be closed to fishing to protect developing shrimp and allow them to grow to more marketable sizes.
State biologists say there's no official data yet on how bad the season was or what may have caused it. Many shrimpers remain worried that the oil spill and chemicals related to the cleanup caused low shrimp catches, though there's no official evidence to back that up.
There's no doubt, however, that the slump comes at a bad time for shrimpers, who have battled low prices for their catch, competition from imported seafood, high fuel prices and multiple disasters, including hurricanes and the BP oil spill.
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