PORT OF BROWNSVILLE — Like hunters anxiously awaiting the start of deer season, shrimp boats from Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi recently converged near the mouth of the Rio Grande along the southern Gulf Coast.

They were there to join local shrimpers for the opening of the Texas shrimp harvest season, according to Tony Reisinger, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent for coastal and marine resources in Cameron County.

The shrimping business is competitive, financially risky and highly dangerous for crew members, Reisinger said, as he boarded vessels to help shrimpers stay compliant with federal rules and regulations.

“The traffic of shrimp boats trawling out there in the Gulf will be extremely heavy,” he said. “The payoff can be big if the catch is large and market prices are high, but the investment is very steep. And commercial fishing is the second most dangerous occupation, next to logging.”

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