Monday marked the first day of the 2012 shrimp season in South Carolina, as the S.C. Department of Natural Resources lifted its restrictions on provisional trawling areas.
The areas are essentially pockets of open water about two to three miles offshore used by the DNR to gauge the shrimp fishery’s readiness for more extensive trawling closer to the coast.
And while the areas make up only about 25 percent of the general trawl zone — which the DNR might not make available for another few weeks — local shrimpers like Larry Toomer of the Bluffton Oyster Co. said they’re glad to be back on the water.
“The first day coming out is always a blessing,” said Toomer, adding the day’s haul was about 1,000 pounds of white shrimp. “It turned out better than I anticipated.”
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