That means shrimp fishermen will only be able to do their jobs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mike Anderson, who captains the F/V Rimrack out of Rye Harbor, said he normally would be fishing for shrimp seven days a week during the season.

The Andersons operate a "straight off the boat to your table" operation, selling their daily catch from F/V Rimrack after landing at the dock. Padi Anderson said it provides consumers with important knowledge about the source of their seafood and puts heavy emphasis on it being a local resource.

The message is important to spread because typical consumers do not know much or think much about the food source, she said.

Seacoast consumers of shrimp may assume what they eat is local because of the proximity to the ocean, but Anderson said imports make up 86 percent of shrimp in the market.

There is no guarantee that imported shrimp are free of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides or preservatives, she said, noting that shrimp are essentially raised on farms in some parts of the world.

"That's one of the reasons why we do what we do," she said.

As the Andersons took to the dock this past week to begin prepping their nets for the season, they expressed some concerns about the shortened shrimp season.

Mike Anderson said it is sure to drive up prices and make things tougher for fishermen. But he and his wife agreed about the need to protect the shrimp population. "We've got no argument with that whatsoever," he said.

There are only about three active shrimp fishing operations out of Rye Harbor, according to the Andersons. Mike Anderson said there is no "young blood" left in the fisheries and that while commercial fishing used to be the "last frontier," due to increased government regulation and oversight, it is now "the worst" frontier.

The Andersons worry that small, independent fishermen are becoming a thing of the past, supplanted by large corporate vessels. "Our community's rights to fisheries are going to be lost," Padi Anderson said.