BILOXI, Miss.– The 2008 shrimp season officially opened in Mississippi territorial waters at 6 a.m. June 17, with reports of average-size shrimp and catch volumes, but the outlook remains good for the rest of the season.

(Photo right: Department of Marine Resources Marine Patrol MSgt. R.T. May, right, performs a routine inspection of the shrimp vessel Midnight Blues, as Judy Lesso of Pass Christian sifts through her morning catch. During their first hour of skimming, Randy and Judy Lesso brought in 21 baskets of brown shrimp along the East Biloxi Channel.)

The Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) Marine Fisheries staff was on the water conducting interviews and surveying shrimp boats the morning of opening day. About 308 commercial and recreational shrimp boats came out to work the opening day, which is about equal to last year’s count of 300 and 2006’s count of 306.

As of June 17, the number of commercial resident shrimp licenses sold was 404, up 48 from last year. The number of out-of-state commercial shrimp licenses sold was 144, up 24 from 2007.

The majority of boats were congregated inside of Horn Island along the Intracoastal Waterway and the west end of Petit Bois, where they were catching fair to good numbers of 40/50-count brown shrimp. Other boats were working around Cat Island and West Ship Island.

“With the high cost of fuel, many fishermen decided to wait until they had more information on how the season would be,” said DMR’s Shrimp and Crab Bureau Dircetor Traci Floyd. “Those that did head out onto the waters agreed that location was key to success. Great reports were coming from the area inside Horn Island along the Intracoastal Waterway.”

The DMR’s Marine Patrol was out in full force starting at 6 p.m. June 16 and worked around the clock to ensure a smooth shrimp season opening. This included 26 officers, two reserve officers and three dispatchers. Marine Patrol officers conducted patrols from 12 patrol boats throughout the Mississippi Sound.

“We are thankful for the good weather this year. As of 3:30 p.m. (June 17), we had no distress calls,” said Lt. Col. Claude Pittman, assistant chief of the DMR’s Marine Patrol. “Compliance rates were much higher than in previous years.”

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at dmr.ms.gov.