Data released by NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center in early November shows shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico through the first seven months of 2022 are the best they’ve been in nearly a decade.
Through July, shrimpers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida’s Gulf Coast reported catching 50.1 million pounds of shrimp. That total is about 1 million pounds under the 20-year average calculated by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which tracks NOAA Fisheries data.
Despite trending slightly behind the average, it’s the largest harvest in the region through the first seven months of the year since 2013, when fishermen reported catching 51.8 million pounds. The group also noted the year-to-date haul was substantially larger than what was reported over the same span during the previous three years.
The federal government also released revised landings data for June when it released its initial findings for July. The SSA noted there were increases to totals reported from Louisiana.
“Through the first seven months of this year, NOAA preliminarily reports that over 24.0 million pounds of shrimp have been landed in that state, significantly up from both preliminary and final reports for the first seven months over the previous three years,” the alliance said in a statement.
Louisiana’s total through the first seven months is also the best since 2013, but it’s also 7 percent less than the historical average of 25.9 million pounds.
Year-to-date landings in Texas and Alabama are above average. Texas has landed 13.9 million, about 170,000 pounds above the average, while the 7.3 million pounds in Alabama is the third-highest total since 2002 and 57.6 percent above the average.
Florida Gulf Coast shrimpers are having their best year since 2017, but the 3.3 million pounds caught through July remains 15.8 percent below the average. Mississippi has reported landings of 1.6 million, which is nearly half of the 3 million pound average landings through the first seven months of the year.
Despite the positive early trend the initial landings report for July indicate landings of 5.5 million pounds for the region, down more than 48 percent from the historical average. It also marked the lowest reported harvest since 2010, which was about 100,000 pounds less than what was reported in July.
Photo courtesy of Leigh Trail/Shutterstock
