Shrimp Consumption Expected to Drop in 2007

U.S. per capita shrimp consumption is expected to drop in 2007, said Howard Johnson, president of H.M. Johnson and Associates in Jacksonville, Ore., at today's Annual Shrimp Forum during the International Boston Seafood Show.

U.S. per capita shrimp consumption reached a record 4.4 pounds in 2006, up from 4.1 pounds in 2005. Shrimp surpassed canned tuna to become America's favorite seafood in 2001.

The anticipated drop in consumption, said Johnson, is due largely to U.S. shrimp imports, which fell for the first time in more than a decade last year, down 5.7 percent to 1.23 billion pounds. Imports represent about 90 percent of the U.S. shrimp supply.

Shrimp imports haven't dropped from the previous year since 1996. Even in 2005, when the U.S. Department of Commerce enacted shrimp tariffs on six Asian and Latin American countries, shrimp imports increased 2.2 percent to 1.17 billion pounds. Last year, shrimp imports jumped a whopping 11.6 percent to 1.3 billion pounds.

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None