U.S. imports of shrimp fell by more than five percent in May. However, officials warned not to read too much into the figures.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. brought 50,574 metric tons of shrimp for that month. That’s down more than 5.5 percent from the total imported in May 2017. It marks the first time in over a year that the United States has seen a decline in imports on a year-on-year basis.
The announcement also comes at a time when the U.S. is escalating tariffs with trade partners around the world. The decline also came weeks after Congress passed a bill that would incorporate shrimp into the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.
Last month, U.S. officials also announced that the number of shrimp imports refused went up in May.
Imports from China fell by more than 20 percent to 3,142 metric tons. Vietnam imports dropped nearly 16 percent to 3,469 metric tons, and Thailand’s imports were reduced by nearly a third from May 2017 to 3,409 metric tons.
While the import totals were down from May 2017 to May 2018, NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Kate Brogan reiterated that for the year overall, shrimp imports remain up, and that May’s 2018 import total exceeded the April 2018 tally.
“At this point, these variations appear to be within the range of normal inter-annual variation, and therefore our experts would not ascribe any significance to them without a longer trend,” Brogan told SeafoodSource.com.
Among America’s largest partners, India’s imports rose more than four percent from May 2017 to 18,408 metric tons. Indonesia’s were up more than 3.5 percent in the same span to 10,060 metric tons. For the first five months of the year, India’s shrimp imports are up by nearly 24 percent to 83,733 metric tons. Indonesia’s totals are up more than 17 percent to 55,742 metric tons.
Despite the May decline, China’s imports are still up at this point from 2017. The 16,426 metric tons marks a more than six percent increase. Thailand’s totals, however, are down nearly 24 percent from last year to 18,227 metric tons.
