The commercial shrimp trawling season opened in South Carolina state waters within the General Trawl Zone at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22. The commercial trawling season opened in federal waters on June 7. The shrimp season normally opens in late May or early June after the peak spawning period of white shrimp. However, as a result of the extremely cold water temperatures this past winter, which caused a drastic decrease in the abundance of white shrimp, this year’s opening was delayed by several weeks to allow additional spawning time. The opening date of the trawl season has not been this late since 2001, which was preceded by a similar cold winter.
