The harvest of brown shrimp in the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to be 53.2 million pounds, which is slightly below the historical 52-year average of 56.5 million pounds, according to NOAA's annual forecast. The prediction covers the period from July 2014 through June 2015 for state and federal waters off Louisiana and federal waters off Texas.
NOAA scientists make the annual prediction of brown shrimp catches based on monitoring of juvenile brown shrimp abundance, growth estimates and environmental indicators. They predict shrimp catches for state and federal waters off Louisiana from west of the Mississippi River to the Texas-Louisiana border to be approximately 29.7 million pounds this season. The Texas portion of the catch is predicted to be 23.5 million pounds.
Most of the shrimp harvested in the U.S. — 68 percent — comes from the Gulf of Mexico, especially Texas and Louisiana. Total domestic shrimp harvest brought in USD 518 million (EUR 381 million) in 2011.
