This year's harsh winter has led to a steep decline in North Carolina's shrimp catch. That's according to state wildlife officials, who say cold waters killed the majority of white shrimp in North Carolina water. That species usually spends the winter near the shore and swims out to sea around the beginning of June. Carlyle Gilgo is a seafood dealer in the town of Sealevel near Morehead City. He says he hasn't caught any shrimp yet this year.
Carlyle Gilgo: "Mainly what I handled during the summer time was shrimp. I never messed with no fish or nothing, but it's declined right on down. You might get two weeks out of the year, three weeks out of the year of it. It was probably two-thirds of my business. Now, it's not even a quarter of it."
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries says the shrimp catch was down nearly 50 percent last year compared with 2008. But state officials say the population is likely to rebound within the next year or two.
