Northern shrimp are protandrous hermaphrodites – they begin life as males and sexually mature at roughly 2½ years old. They transform to females at about 3½ years old. They start spawning in late July in offshore waters, mainly in deep mud basins in the southwestern Gulf of Maine. By early fall, most adult females have pushed their eggs out onto their abdomen. They prey on plankton (tiny floating plants and animals) and bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

Northern shrimp are found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. On the U.S. Atlantic coast, northern shrimp are mainly found in waters off of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

Fishermen mainly use otter trawls to harvest northern shrimp, although some Maine fishermen use traps. Northern shrimp are harvested over soft mud bottoms, which are more resilient to the impacts of trawling compared to structured habitats such as corals. Also, the small mesh in the shrimp otter trawls creates more drag than a groundfish net and can’t be towed as fast for the same size net, reducing the potential impact on shrimp habitat.