The price shrimpers are getting per pound for Gulf shrimp significantly dropped this summer, despite more shrimp being harvested in the Gulf of Mexico since 2006. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports about 20 million pounds of shrimp was harvested from the Gulf in August, roughly 10 percent above the previous 13-year historical-average for the month.
Increasing amounts of imported shrimp, to meet high consumer demand, is leading to lower dockside prices for shrimpers.
Once a sign of luxury, and a tactic to impress guests at a dinner party, shrimp has become one of the most commonly consumed seafood items.
Marine Economist and University of Florida professor, Dr. Chuck Adams, said only about 10 percent of the shrimp we eat comes from the Gulf. The remaining 90 percent comes from Asian aquaculture.
Adams said the abundance of imported shrimp has driven the price of Gulf shrimp down.
“With majority of the product coming in being imported, where energy, labor, capital costs, everything are so much cheaper, they can afford to grow it, harvest it, process it, ship it, get it in the US for pennies on the pound basically,” he said. “So it’s a much cheaper product.”
The average, dockside price for medium and small-sized shrimp from the Northern Gulf has fallen from almost $7.00 a pound in August of 2013, to a little more than $3.00 a pound in August of this year.
Adams said shrimp imports are necessary to supply the growing demand, yet he said the quality of shrimp straight out of the Gulf will always surpass the quality of farm-raised imports.