How to catch shrimp in the UK

Catching shrimp is probably one of the least popular beach foraging activities, well, right after limpet gathering I suppose, but nothing comes close to the satisfaction gained from taking a big bucket of shrimp and cooking it right there on the beach. The UK doesn’t really have a good selection of prawns or shrimp and can’t match the larger king prawns or tiger prawns you can find elsewhere in the world, but when you find the right spot then you can make up for the smaller size of them in overall weight.

(UK shrimp may be small, but they make up for their size in numbers)

What’s the difference between prawn and shrimp?

There isn’t really any official definition for the 2 words as they are both interchangeable, in the United States they use the term shrimp for what is known in England as a king prawn, but the basic difference is that prawns have claws on 3 out of their 5 pairs of legs, were as shrimp only have claws on 2 of their 5 pairs of legs.

Where to find them

The best places to catch shrimp are generally around the southern half of the country. If you draw a line straight across the country level with Liverpool, everything below that is good for shrimping, with the further south the better. There are a few well-known good spots where you’ll increase your chances, mostly on the East coast of England, around the Norfolk and Suffolk beaches. The south coast of Wales is another good spot, with Swansea Bay up towards St Brides Bay normally providing a good catch. Along with those the entire south coast of England is good any time of year, with the slightly warmer waters making it a more attractive place to be a shrimp.

(Very flat sandy beaches with as few rocks and seaweed on as possible make the best places to go shrimping)

They can be very hard to see and normally hide in the sand, so simply walking up to the water and having a look usually won’t tell you if there are shrimp about or not. The best way to check if they are on a beach is to look for places they could have gotten caught when the tide went out, such as rock pools or the small temporary ponds that form on the beach. Gently brush your fingers through the sand under the water and try to disturb them, if any swim out then you can be sure they got stuck there from a larger group still in the surf.

When to catch shrimp

Without a doubt, the number one time to go shrimping is at low tide, and the lower it is the better. The spring tides are the lowest during the year and increase your chances of getting a bigger catch, and also maybe finding a few other treats like razor clams. Shrimp/prawns can also get stuck in rock pools and small streams on the beach during a low tide, but they are never worth going after in places like this, because if you do manage to catch one of these lightning-fast shellfish ninjas you won’t get any real eating quantity for your efforts.

Even though a low tide will increase your chances, they can be caught all year round but are most active during hot weather. The lowest tides on the hottest days will be the best times to go, and it will also be much more comfortable to walk through the water while you’re doing it.

How to catch shrimp

You will need to go and buy or make something called a push net. This is a net that’s normally shaped like a shovel that you simply push along the bottom of the beach stirring up any shrimp hiding in the sand, they then get caught in the bow of the net and are kept there by the force of the water pushing them to the back as you move the net forward.

The best area is normally about 10 feet from where the water meets the beach, preferably within the small surf swells that turn into small waves. This will depend on how flat the beach is though so be careful not to go out further than you need to, if there aren’t any within the surf next to the beach then you probably won’t do any better trying further away from shore. The only exception to this is if the beach is very gently sloping and you can go out much further without being too deep.

Shrimp like at least 12 inches of water for them to be able to move around properly and tend to live in areas where it’s not possible to use a push net. If the beach is covered in pebbles or has plenty of seaweed then it’ll be very difficult to use a push net without scooping it all up. The bottom of the beach should be nothing but sand and as smooth as possible to ensure the best use of a push net.

The Cast netting method

Due to the average size of shrimp in the UK, using a cast net is a bad option and won’t be as effective as a push net. They are only good for catching the larger shrimp found abroad and will be difficult to use in most areas, and there is also the risk of breaking the law by accidentally catching something else. According to the British government:

“It is illegal to use cast nets to catch freshwater fish, eels, trout, migratory trout, or salmon in the North East. They are also illegal if used to catch migratory trout, salmon, or freshwater eels up to six nautical miles from the coastline.”