Shrimp season starts in Oregon

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Boats fishing for Oregon pink shrimp, the first shrimp to be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council in 2007, left the harbor for the first time in 2010 this week.

The season officially started on April 1 but bad weather delayed actual shrimping.

While the contentious chinook salmon season — the commercial season will open in May for the first time in two years — receives much of the attention in Oregon, shrimp has floated along largely under the radar.

Last year’s shrimp season was above average, with just over 22 million pounds coming ashore, but was below 2008 results. The issue wasn’t a lack of shrimp in the ocean, but a lack of enthusiasm in the marketplace.

"Low price, a limited market, phenomenal catch rates: That about sums up the 2009 Oregon pink shrimp season," read an Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife bulletin on the species out last month.

Frank Dulcich, CEO of Pacific Seafood, wishes he could alter that picture. "The challenge today on shrimp is that the only time you see shrimp is on shrimp salad. People think of it as an additive, not a main course."

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has named Oregon pink shrimp as a "best choice" for sustainability-minded consumers.

The certification from the London-based Marine Stewardship Council is seen as a must-have for fish products exported to Europe, but a tariff on shrimp has put a crimp in exports of Oregon pink shrimp making it a much more expensive choice for European consumers.

Dulcich said that Pacific Seafood has worked to get the MSC certification for other seafood species including Alaska Pollock, Alaska Salmon, albacore tuna, black cod, Pacific cod, Pacific whiting, and Pacific halibut fisheries.