Correction: U.S. shrimp imports slip in Sept.

U.S. shrimp imports fell for the first time in three months in September, totaling 121.2 million pounds, down 0.7 percent from September 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Wednesday.

U.S. shrimp imports had increased in each of the last three months (June, July and August) until slipping in September.

However, U.S. shrimp imports through September were still up 0.2 percent to 852.8 million pounds, compared to the same period last year. In August, they were up over last year for the first time in 2010.

Among the top 10 suppliers, the biggest increase in September came from India, which watched its shrimp exports to the U.S. market increase 103.2 percent to 10.5 million pounds. Through September, U.S. shrimp imports from India were up 21.6 percent to 40.3 million pounds.

Vietnam saw its shrimp exports to the U.S. market grow 27.8 percent to 15.2 million pounds. Through September, U.S. shrimp imports from Vietnam were up 2.5 percent to 66.1 million pounds.

China also watched its shrimp exports to the U.S. market in September jump 10.6 percent to 11.8 million pounds. Through September, U.S. shrimp imports from China were up 8.7 percent to 71.2 million pounds.

U.S. shrimp imports from Thailand, by far the No. 1 supplier to the U.S. market, were down 7.1 percent in September to 41.9 million pounds but were up 5.4 percent in the first nine months of 2010 to nearly 300 million pounds.

Once again, the biggest drop among top 10 suppliers in September came from Mexico, which saw its shrimp exports to the U.S. market plummet 67.8 percent to just 3,600 pounds. Through September, U.S. shrimp imports from Mexico were down 41.6 percent to 27.2 million pounds.

Wild Mexican shrimp had been subject to a U.S. import ban since April, when the U.S. State Department cited a limited number of Mexican trawlers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and Sea of Cortez for failing to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) properly and inadvertently trapping sea turtles. But, last month, the ban was lifted.