Russian shrimp harvest in the Barents Sea reached 8,100 metric tons by May 7, up 35 percent from this time last year and part of an ongoing upward trajectory, according to the country’s fishery agency, Rosrybolovstvo.

However, in spite of a promising start, the month of May so far has seen daily-per-vessel-catches unexpectedly dwindle from 12-20 metric tons to a modest 5-10 metric tons.

"Nobody can give a definite and rational explanation for such an unexpected occurrence," Dmitry Ponyavin, a private fisheries consultant, told IntraFish.