Two days of meetings will determine if there’s going to be a shrimp fishing season in New England next year, and it doesn’t look promising.

The fishery, based mostly in Maine, has been shut down since 2013 over concerns about a depleted population of the shrimp. An advisory panel that reports to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met Thursday in Portland to discuss a recommendation about having a season in 2019.

The commission’s shrimp section will then cast a vote on the subject Friday, also in Portland. Recent scientific materials released by the Atlantic States commission say the shrimp population remains in poor shape despite several years without fishing pressure. The warming of the Gulf of Maine is often cited as a problem.

The shrimp are unavailable to consumers.


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