Scientists can't say for sure whether there will be a shrimp fishing season here in the Northeast next winter, but they will be discussing the matter at a meeting in Portland on April 30.

“It's really hard to say,” said Mike Waine of the Atlantic States Fisheries Commission, the regulatory body that oversees the fishery. “I think everybody's hopeful. But so many in the industry have never seen such a season before.”

Spencer Fuller, shrimp buyer for Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland said in an interview back in February that this year's season has basically been a bust.

Shrimp trappers had just started hauling (on February 1), but he believed the shrimp had already started to move off shore.

The season ended April 12 with preliminary landings data from dealer reports showing just a fraction of what was allowed. The Maine Department of Marine Resources shows approximate catch totals from this season on its website: (www.maine.gov/dmr).

Out of 150 boats trawling for the pandalus borealis (Northern shrimp) in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, approximately 292 metric tons (or about 643,600 pounds) were reported to have been caught.

About 14.6 metric tons were recorded from the 58 boats in Maine trapping for shrimp this year. Based on these numbers, it appears fishermen caught roughly half of the Total Allowable Catch the Commission's Northern Shrimp Section permitted for the season (625 metric tons).

While the season was still under way in February, it was apparent to many that the fishery was not meeting already low expectations. Scientists with the Commission's Technical Committee recommended not allowing a season all this year, given research showing declined populations in all year classes of shrimp, from juvenile to age five.

A memorandum from the Northern Shrimp Advisory Panel outlines some of the topics to be discussed at the meeting in Portland. Several subjects as they relate to management of the shrimp fishery in 2014 will covered, including harvest set-asides, gear requirements and prohibitions, research and monitoring requirements, the frequency of stock assessments, catch quotas and other topics.

In early May, the Technical Committee will consider landings, biological samples and other data as they put together a stock assessment for the year.

The Advisory Panel meeting is scheduled to run from 1 to 3 p.m., on April 30 at the Casco Bay Lines Conference Room, 56 Commercial Street, Portland.