End of Shrimp Fishing in Sept-Ills?

Shrimp fishermen have thrown in the towel since the fishing season opened on April 1, with the majority of Quebec license holders not going to sea.

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Faced with anemic catches, a firm from Ushat on the north coast decided to store its fishing boat after just 10 days of operations.

The crew caught only 8,000 pounds of shrimp Viking II, Uashat Mac belongs to a company in the Mani-Uthenam community. Normally at sea until the fall, the boat returned to its winter storage location Wednesday morning.

“No shrimp yet,” says Benoît Saint-Onge, general director of Pecheries Upon.

“I took the decision on a monetary level. The operating costs were too expensive for the little revenue we earned. I took a very difficult decision,” he added.

Captain of Viking IISylvain Bujold is convinced that he will not go to sea next year.

“It's the end of fishing for me,” he lamented. “It's not viable this year. I think it's the end of shrimp. As Mrs. Leboutillier said, I don't want to be the fisherman who catches the last shrimp. I'll leave that work to redfish and groundfish.

Another shrimp fisherman continues his activities from Sept-Isles but has to move to the estuary as shrimps are rare on the shores of Sept-Isles.