Mississippi shrimpers had an excellent opening day, a fact that had them pleasantly surprised.

Based on reports from just two of Biloxi's three shrimp dealers as of July 1, fishermen landed 790,000 pounds of shrimp in the first week. Last year, all three Biloxi shrimp dealers reported total first-week landings of 541,000 pounds of shrimp.

Dave Burrage, professor of marine resources with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said hot, dry spring weather is considered good for shrimp crops, but the state got the exact opposite this year.

"All of the environmental factors that we normally look towards to sort of do a crystal ball prediction of the shrimp season were against us this year," Burrage said. "We had a cold, cold winter and a very wet springtime. This was responsible for the late opening, but when the season finally did open, there were good shrimp."

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