The average from last year's season was 1000 tons of shrimp captured by 86 shrimp boats from Puerto Peñasco from September to December. This has generated a great economic benefit to the fishing industry of this city.
The shrimp fleet has many different owners and many boats. Basically they are all are set up the same, 30 meters long with 5 compartments at water level. Forward compartment is the work shop used for any repairs and maintiance at sea, and also holds the compressor for the cooling compartment. The second compartment is the engine room which holds the diesel engine that puts out 615 H.P., and holds a generator and water purifier. The third and forth compartment is the Freezer and storage for the shrimp. The temperature is maintained at -18 Celsius or close to zero Farenheit. The last compartment holds the fuel tanks on both sides of the boat with the shaft and rudder in the middle.
The main deck is a very busy place for storage of the rigging, winch and cleaning table. Forward of that is the mess hall and crew cabin. And above that is the Captain's quarters and wheel house.
The fleet we visited has 16 boats. At an average, the beginning of the season they leave the harbor and stay out at sea for about two weeks to fill their cargo hold at a capacity of 10 tons of Shrimp. As the season continues into the Fall, the water temperature decreases, the shrimp are more plentiful and not as deep, allowing the fisherman to fill their compartments in less time.
Once the fisherman bring their catch in, using nets and troll in with their hoop nets, they bring their catch in, and the work begins. First they sort, separate and clean the catch, place the shrimp in containers and into the freezer to be flash frozen to keep them fresh while they continue to fish. Its not a 9 am to 5 pm job , it's a 24 - 7 job.
Enjoy Rocky Point shrimp the best in Mexico.