SC state waters open for trawling in early June

S.C. (WPDE) — The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) set the official 2025 start date for shrimp trawling in South Carolina state waters.

South Carolina’s commercial shrimp trawling season will open in all legal state waters at 8 a.m. on Monday, June 2, according to SCDNR.

“Although we did have a cold snap in late January, white shrimp numbers across South Carolina’s estuaries have generally been near the long-term average this winter and spring,” SCDNR biologist Jeff Brunson said.

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Shrimp season typically opens by late spring, following the season opening in eight smaller provisional areas in the state’s outer waters.

In 2025, those eight areas opened on April 24.

According to a press release from SCDNR, “officials set the opening date for shrimp season each year based on the conditions of the shrimp themselves.”

Biologists use white shrimp samples to determine if female shrimp have already spawned at least once.

SCDNR warned that “opening the season too soon – and allowing trawlers to catch too many females that have not had an opportunity to spawn – could reduce the size of the fall white shrimp crop, which are the offspring of the spring white shrimp.”

To contact SCDNR with any questions or concerns, visit its site here.