Gulf shrimp harvest numbers are eagerly awaited | NOLA.com

jumbo shrimp

It is hard to know how many fish there are in the sea.  That and the need to achieve early settlement have driven BP's claims man Kenneth Feinberg to double his offer to shrimpers: BP will pay four times the 2010 loss - not twice - as initially offered.  These preliminary numbers will have policy makers at BP's Gulf Coast Claims Facility scratching their heads - and fishermen and their their lawyers too.  Settle or litigate? This piece from the Times Picayune shows how tricky it is to get reliable estimates of the once and future catch. - GWC
Gulf shrimp harvest numbers are eagerly awaited | NOLA.com:

"Rarely has quantifying Louisiana's annual shrimp harvest generated as much interest as it has this year, as scientists, shrimpers and even the general public nervously await news of how many shrimp were pulled from coastal waters battered in recent years by drought,  and themassive BP oil spill.
The reality of the 2011 Gulf of Mexico shrimp season likely won't be known for several more months, but preliminary numbers compiled by the state for The Times-Picayune this month show the Louisiana brown shrimp season garnered about 35 percent more pounds of headless shrimp than any season since 2007.
Definitive numbers for the white shrimp harvest aren't yet available, but it appears that catch dropped."