The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both Texas and federal waters will close 30 minutes after sunset on May 23 until a still-to-be determined time in July.

“The purpose of moving the closure date this year is tied to when the shrimp are projected to leave the bays,” says TPWD’s coastal fisheries science director Mark Fisher. “Due to cooler spring temperatures and higher salinities, shrimp growth rates appear to be slower this spring.”

The Texas closure applies to gulf waters from the coast out to nine nautical miles. The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced federal waters out to 200 nautical miles also will be closed to conform to the Texas closure.