6 Answers

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/shrimp.html  For Jews, all shellfish are considered non-kosher, i.e., unclean. The quotes are from the Old Testament, which Jews adhere to.

God said that anything in the water that did not have fins or scales would be an abomination. That would include clams, mussels, shrimp, lobster, crab, oysters, sea horses, starfish, sand dollars, sea turtles, octopus, jellyfish.....

Leviticus 11:12  

I will probably be edited or at least severely chastised for this but I think that just about everything in the old testament is an abomination.How easy it is for Christians to say "Oh that's the Old Testament,that's only for Jews". Hello!!!!  It's your bible too Christians!!

If you like Schrimp (That'd be prawns I'm guessing),crabs,lobster etc,go ahead.I think you will still have just as much chance of getting to heaven.

Here are almost all the scriptures referencing foods and the rules > http://www.openbible.info/topics/eating_shrimp

Maybe at that time,and in that place,  they contained some kind of germ. And they weren't  cooked all the different ways they are now.  They did eat fish, tho '  .  They were told not to eat a lot of different kinds of animals.........like pigs, and animals with cloven hooves, like deer  ? 

Apparently eels are forbidden to Jews because although they do have scales they are so small they can't be seen with the naked eye.