BRUNSWICK, Ga. --- Another below-average season has prompted Georgia officials to extend the harvest of shrimp in state waters for one month.

The shrimping season will continue through Jan. 31, Commissioner Noel Holcomb, of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, announced Wednesday. It had been scheduled to close Monday.

The extension affects commercial shrimpers who trawl the state's territorial waters up to 3 miles offshore. It also affects cast-netters and people using beach seines inshore, Mr. Holcomb said.

He approved the extension on the recommendation of department biologists in consensus with shrimpers and industry officials on the department's Shrimp Advisory Panel.

Crew members aboard the shrimp boat Capt. Blake welcomed the decision as they off-loaded their catch Wednesday at the Brunswick city dock.

The season should remain open year-round, said Bobby Ray Bennett, who contends more time is needed to offset mediocre harvests, low shrimp prices and high fuel costs.

Scientific surveys this month show large, white shrimp remain in several estuaries along the Georgia coast, said Patrick Geer, the supervisor of the Research and Surveys Program for the department's Coastal Resources Division based in Brunswick.

"As coastal water temperatures decline, these shrimp should move seaward," Mr. Geer said. "Also, shrimp leaving the estuaries of South Carolina will pass through Georgia coastal waters as they migrate southward."

There is still consumer demand for fresh, domestic shrimp -- another factor in the recommendation to extend the season, he said.

Commercial shrimpers reported harvesting 1.3 million pounds of shrimp through October, the most recent state data available. That is 50 percent below the state's 10-year average, state records showed.

The harvest is affected by three main factors: the abundance of shrimp, number of commercial shrimpers and market conditions, Mr. Geer said.

There were 276 licensed trawlers this year in Georgia, compared with 394 five years ago, he said.

This season's lower harvest is the result of "a decline in shrimp-fishing effort combined with below-average abundance of shrimp," Mr. Geer said.

Rising operational costs, particularly fuel expenses, have forced many shrimpers out of the business.

The Natural Resources Department has extended the season annually since 1978, except for 1983, 1989 and 2000, when severe cold weather caused water temperatures to drop to lethal levels for white shrimp.