Wild shrimp hauls off the southern Atlantic coast have plunged in recent months as a parasite has made it harder for the creatures to breathe, according to state wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina.
Experts said they believe black gill disease, caused by a tiny parasite, contributed to a die-off of white shrimp between August and October, typically the prime catch season.
The disease does not kill shrimp directly but hurts their endurance and makes them more vulnerable to predators.
South Carolina shrimpers hauled in 44,000 pounds of shrimp in September, less than 6 percent of the September, 2012 catch of more than 750,000 pounds.
The August take was down nearly 75 percent from the same month the previous year.
Georgia shrimpers have caught fewer than half the number they usually catch in August, September and October, said Patrick Geer, chief of marine fisheries for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Wild-caught shrimp generate $6 million to $8 million in annual revenue in South Carolina and about $12 million a year in Georgia, officials said.
Researchers in Georgia are studying the life cycle of the parasite that causes black gill disease in hopes of finding a way to combat it, Geer said.
Officials blamed drought for earlier outbreaks in the last decade, but this year the U.S. Southeast saw record rainfall.
Black gill disease tends to taper off as waters get colder in November, officials said.