After a difficult period of low prices shocked the global shrimp-farming industry in 2024, Ecuadorian shrimp farmers have adjusted, and the sector has stabilized, according to Glunashrimp Founder Gabriel Luna.
“Ecuadorian shrimp farmers – as have the other farmers around the world – have had to adjust to be able to produce with those low prices. [2024 was] a very troublesome year for the farmers because they were trying to adapt to these new prices,” Luna said at the Global Seafood Market Conference in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A., on 21 January.
Ecuador’s shrimp production has skyrocketed in recent years, with the sector experiencing double-digit growth from 2020 through 2023. However, lower prices finally stymied that growth, with 2024’s output of 2.7 billion pounds roughly flat from 2023’s output.
That’s not a sign that the industry is maxed out, though, according to Luna.
“Having a lower price means that there is lower demand, so you are adjusting to it,” Luna said. “In order to be more efficient, they have to change their protocols, and that change requires testing. That’s what happened in the last 18 months.”
Luna said that some farms had an easier time than others adjusting to the new reality, and some failed in their readjustment. But others were successful and had great results, and towards the end of the year even saw an increase in prices.
Given those success stories and the experience the sector gained over the last 18 months, Luna said he doesn’t expect Ecuadorian shrimp production to decline drastically.
“I don’t see a lower amount of shrimp coming out of Ecuador,” he said. “I don’t see a great increase, but I think we can say Ecuador is going to remain as it is – plus or minus 5 percent.”
Ecuadorian shrimp farmers have also had success in diversifying their export markets, though China remains the biggest trade partner for Ecuador’s shrimp industry.
In 2024, 1.4 billion pounds of the 2.5 billion pounds the nation exported went to Asia, according to Customs Ecuador.
Beginning in 2020, however, exports to North America and Europe have ballooned. In 2024, Ecuador exported 447 million pounds of shrimp to North America, up from 178 million pounds in 2019. Exports to Europe have grown from 259 million pounds in 2019 to 495 million pounds in 2024.
“2020 is the first time that we actually see growth in North America and Europe,” Luna said.
That transition was spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw China briefly pausing shrimp imports.
“We figured we needed to shift and be ready for other markets. You can see that after 2020, we actually doubled our presence in North America and doubled our presence in Europe,” Luna said.
Ecuadorian shrimp farmers were able to facilitate that growth through the introduction of more value-added products, which is what European and North American customers want, according to Luna.
“[Ecuador has] been on all of our radars; you see the volumes over the years. Everybody knows they’re a major player. They just weren’t interested in coming to the U.S. market; they didn’t have the value-added products we were looking for,” Publix Super Markets Seafood Director Guy Pizzuti said.
However, the shift to providing products that appeal to the U.S. market is in full force now.
“We have made great steps toward providing value-added products,” Luna said. “We weren’t doing [peeled products] in the past as much as we’re doing today. That has tripled itself in the last six years.”
Still, Luna said it will take time for Ecuador to build out its value-added offerings.
“I think we have a lot of room to grow in the field of peeled products,” Luna said.
