Shrimping season opens today

Image by flickr user Savannah GrandfatherImage by 20080522shrimp.jpg

Shrimping season has opened as of 8 a.m.

This is the first of the state's three seasons, the white roe shrimp season. Edible Lowcountry reports on the three:
Mid- to late May: Season opens for large, white roe shrimp, which are caught for one to three weeks, as they leave the marsh and head out to sea to breed.

Mid- to late June: First of the brown shrimp are pulled in. "Brownies" are small and sweet and grow larger through the summer before tapering off in August.

September - December: The offspring of the May white roe shrimp begin to appear and grow throughout the fall and early winter.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources decided to open the season as "biologists with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sampled state waters and determine that an adequate number of roe shrimp have spawned," said the agency in its prepared statement.

The S.C. Shrimper's Association offers a Web site on where to get local shrimp.

If you plan on catching shrimp by baiting, you'll need to get a license from the state ($25 for state residents). Also, casting a shrimp net can be a real pain, so if you're new to it, you may want to watch this video on YouTube.

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