U.S. shrimp landings and prices hit new lows, according to preliminary data released by NOAA.
For June 2024, the most recent month for which data is available, landings of shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico were well below the historical averages, though Louisiana’s and South Carolina’s totals have not been reported yet
Overall, U.S. landing volumes from the Gulf of Mexico totaled 25.9 million pounds, or 11,748 metric tons, year to date through June 2024, representing a 45.8 percent dip below the historical average of 47.7 million pounds (21,636 MT). Landings in the South Atlantic were 74.7 percent below the historical average through June, totalling 2.1 million pounds (953 MT), down from a historical average of 3.6 million pounds (1633 MT).
Compared with a historical average of the last 22 years, the most devastating drop occurred in North Carolina, where shrimp landing volumes plummeted 92.8 percent, from a historical average of 222,000 pounds (100.7 MT) to 16,000 pounds (7.3 MT) in June 2024. Landings on the west coast of Florida were down 87.6 percent, from the historical average of 724,000 pounds (328 MT) to 90,000 pounds in June 2024 (41.8 MT). In Mississippi, landings were down 78.7 percent, from a historical average of 1.5 million pounds (680.4 MT) to 311,000 pounds (141.2 MT) in June 2024.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) has provided a comprehensive analysis of trends in the currently available data. Even with the likelihood of future substantial upward revisions, these numbers represent what the SSA called a “massiv[e]” drop in landings.
Bright spots in the data included Alabama’s shrimp landings, which totalled 1.9 million pounds (861.8 MT), in line with its historical average. Landings on the east coast of Florida were not dramatically lower than the historical average; the 365,000 pounds (165.6 MT) brought in was 8.6 percent below the historical average of 399,000 pounds (180.9 MT).
Prices were also historically low. The SSA analysis of the NOAA data showed that June ex-vessel prices for U15 shrimp varied between 2002 and 2024 from a low of USD 4.51 (EUR 4.12) per pound in 2009, to a high of USD 9.39 (EUR 8.58) per pound in 2019. In June 2024, ex-vessel prices for U15 shrimp were USD 5.94 (EUR 5.43).
Data from 2023 has also been revised and corrected by the agency; 8.8 million pounds (3991.6 MT) of shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico were recorded in June 2023, “by far the lowest ever recorded” between June 2002 and June 2023, according to NOAA. The volume of shrimp landed in the South Atlantic was 758,000 pounds (242.8 MT), the third-lowest recorded in the time period studied. NOAA said the June 2024 catch totals are on track to outpace these previous lows.
