ARANSAS PASS (Kiii News) -
The season for brown shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico is set to begin on Sunday, and experts say the crop harvest should be well above average.
"That's very good news, and for the consumer it's good news because the price of shrimp is relatively low," said Dr. Greg Stunz of the Harte Research Institute. "So we're all looking forward to essentially some fresh gulf seafood."
The estimates are based on sampling that's done by Texas universities and the state and federal government. Stunz, of the Harte Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said the harvest prediction for the western Gulf of Mexico is just short of 60-million pounds of shrimp. At Conn Brown Harbor in Aransas Pass, shrimpers who make a living in the Gulf say they're excited.
"All these boats are, you know, they're getting fueled up, getting their provisions, last minute maintenance repairs, and getting ready to get out there and do their shrimping thing," said Grant Erickson, owner of Erickson and Jensen Seafood.
Over at Red Fish Willie's at Conn Brown Harbor, they're also pretty excited . The restaurant only uses what they call "wild-caught local" shrimp, from places like Louisiana and Texas. Local shrimpers said that's much better than pond shrimp from overseas.
