There was a time when the Maine shrimp industry was in big trouble. Officials limited the wintry fishing season to matters of weeks versus months when fisheries officials sounded the depleted-stocks alarm in the 1980s, but since the mid-aught-decade shrimp have been thriving in the Gulf of Maine. Last October, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (because there is such a thing) elected to allow for a second consecutive six-month fishing season for Pandalus borealis, allowing shrimpers to fish and trap the crustaceans from Dec. 1, 2009, through May 29, 2010. Projections of robust stock prompted officials to decide there was plenty to go around.

In Maine during the winter you can find the tiny, pink, head-on hermaphrodites being sold (cheaply) by the pound out of the back of pickup trucks and at roadside stands with hand-scrawled signs. But if you’re not accustomed to driving around with a cooler in your back seat just in case, there are other ways of getting in on the short-lived bounty. Port Clyde Fresh Catch offers 12-week subscriptions via their Maine shrimp CSF. Pick-up is available at a number of winter farmers’ markets across the state and at pick-up points in Rhode Island and New York.

Maine shrimp are so delicate that people often eat them raw, but you can also saute or steam them ever so quickly for an easy scampi, pasta salad or chowder. After spending about an hour peeling five to 10 pounds of crustaceans, that is. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.