It’s official. At nearly 1.27 billion pounds, U.S. shrimp imports finished 2011 up 3 percent from 2010, according to figures released on Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That’s the second straight year that U.S. shrimp imports have increased.
The 2011 total topped 2010’s record of 1.23 billion pounds even though imports from the United States’ No. 1 shrimp supplier, Thailand, was down notable. Imports from Thailand finished 2011 down 8.3 percent from 2010, at 407.8 million pounds. Also, imports from China and Vietnam were down 10.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively, in 2011.
Picking up the slack were Indonesia, Ecuador, Mexico, India and Malaysia. Last year, shrimp imports from the five countries were up 15.1 percent, 13.5 percent, 30.5 percent, 59.5 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively, from the previous year. Ecuador, the United States’ No. 2 shrimp supplier in 2011, chipped in 162.4 million pounds, while Indonesia, the No. 1 shrimp supplier, chipped in 155.1 million pounds.
At around 4 pounds, shrimp represents roughly one-quarter of U.S. per-capita seafood consumption.
