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The Port Arthur Shrimping Association met for the first time this year as shrimping season has come to an end.

The meeting serves as a gathering of local shrimpers to meet and participate in workshops and discussions about trying to stay afloat in the current rough waters of being a shrimper in Texas. 

“The point of the meeting is bringing people together, helping them out,” said Kyle Kimball, president of the Port Arthur Shrimping Association. 

Kimball sees the association as a “family” that supports each other when times are tough  

The Association meets once every 6 months in coordination with the shrimping season that begins in July and ends in December. 

The meeting comes at a time when shrimping has gotten more challenging due to a mass importation of shrimp from other countries, causing locally caught shrimp to compete pricing-wise. 

Many of the shrimpers are also non-native English speakers creating a language barrier that makes it difficult for those shrimpers to follow rules and regulations set by game wardens.

“There are all kinds of training, how to talk ‘man overboard,’ said Kimball. “Basically, what everything comes down to is trying to educate them and they’ll spread [the information] from there.”

Much of the meeting is focused on presenters giving valuable information sessions about local legislation, best practices, and what to do if your boat starts leaking oil. The meeting invites representatives from local organizations such as the U.S. Coast Guard and Texas Parks and Wildlife. 

Attendees ask game wardens questions to better understand fishing regulations as a community with the aid of other community members who may better understand shrimping.

“We want to try to help our family and be beneficial to our family,” said Kimball. “We have got to work together.”