HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Shrimp baiters are seeing some of their best catches in years thanks to the end of the five-year drought.

"It's probably one of the best we've had in a few years," said Sgt. Joel O'Quinn, of the Department of Natural Resources' Law Enforcement Division.

But, that bonanza is bringing one big problem - overfishing.

"When we have a big harvest like we have now, people (are) catching over the limit," O'Quinn said.

Using bait - usually a combination of fish meal and clay formed into balls - to catch shrimp is allowed for recreational shrimpers only. The catch cannot be sold and each person can bag up to 48 quarts of shrimp per day. Shrimpers can be fined for going over the limit - as much as $500 per extra quart.

In-state shrimpers must pay $25 for a permit; out-of-staters are charged $500. Through Oct. 15, the state had sold 12,306 licenses, for this year's baiting season, which begins mid-September and ends noon Nov. 11.

Commercial shrimpers and seafood retailers are opposed to allowing baiting, which lures the shrimp into a concentrated area making it easier to catch them with a cast net.

Recreational shrimpers also get first crack at the shrimp because they can go into rivers and creeks not open to commercial boats.

Barbara Hudson, owner of Benny Hudson Seafood, said Wednesday that the shrimp-baiting season has hurt her store's sales. "It affects some of the people I sell to because normally during this time they do not buy from me," Hudson said.

But complaints from commercial shrimpers are a little quieter this year because of the large crop.

"Overall, it's been a much better season than we've seen in the last few years," said Larry Toomer, manager of the Bluffton Oyster Co.

Hudson said commercial boats are catching as much as 400 pounds a day this year compared with about 100 pounds a day last year.

Information from: The Island Packet