Shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico reported their best December in three years, but it was not enough to boost lagging totals for the 2020 calendar year.
According to the Fishery Monitoring Branch of NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center, the Gulf region states reported 6.6 million pounds of shrimp harvested for December. That’s a nearly 17 percent increase from the December 2019 of total of 5.5 million pounds, and the best total for the region since it reported 6.9 million pounds in December 2017.
Even with the increase, that total was 20.7 percent lower than the December historical average tracked by the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
In addition, December’s totals could not keep the annual shrimp landings from the Gulf of Mexico from being the smallest on record for the second straight year. According to the Alliance, Gulf fishermen reported just 71.2 million pounds in 2020. Not only is that 9.6 million pounds lighter than last year’s tally, it’s also nearly 42 percent off the 122.5 million pound average, which accounts for yearly totals dating back 20 years.
For the year, Louisiana reported just 21.9 million pounds. That’s more than 7 million pounds off from the 2019 total, which itself was a record low.
The annual total, which declined for the seventh straight year, was also 62.2 percent lower than the historical average of nearly 58 million pounds.
Florida’s Gulf Coast also posted a record low for the second straight year. The 3.1 million pounds was down about 400,000 from 2019 and 54.3 percent from the 6.7 million average. Mississippi’s 3.4 million yearly total was its lowest since 2010 and 47.4 percent lower than its 6.5 million average.
Alabama’s annual total decreased for the third consecutive year, but the 10.5 million pounds harvested was only 4.7 percent off the historical average.
Texas shrimpers saw a nearly 2 million pound increase from their 2019 total, but the 32.2 million pounds was still nearly 20 percent off its historical average.
As NOAA Fisheries has announced in recent months, the landings totals now are either collected or estimated by federal port agents.
“Ultimately, the harvest volumes reported in NOAA’s monthly reporting are likely to be significantly revised when the agency issues a Fisheries of the United States covering 2020 commercial landings,” the agency’s disclaimer read.
Photo courtesy of Terry Kelly/Shutterstock
