August was not a great month for shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico, landing data released last month by NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s Fishery Monitoring Branch showed.
Commercial fishermen in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida’s Gulf coast caught 15.1 million pounds of shrimp for the month. That total is down from the 16.7 million pounds collected in August 2017 and is 15.4 percent lower than the 16-year average, as monitored by the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
For the year, the 62.6 million pounds harvested by Gulf shrimpers is more than three million pounds off the pace set last year and 12.6 percent smaller than the historic average. However, the alliance noted the year-to-date tally is the Gulf’s second-best showing over the last five years.
Texas led the way in August, with fishermen there harvesting 7.2 million pounds, down from 8.4 million pounds in August 2017. For the year, the total collection of 21.4 million pounds is less than a half-million pounds off the historical average.
Louisiana totals dipped to 4.5 million pounds from 5.2 million a year before. For the year, the total of 24.4 million pounds is nearly 30 percent less than the historical average, but its comparable to the totals Louisiana shrimpers have collected during the first eight months in each of the last four years.
Alabama’s landings of 2.3 million pounds were down from 2.5 million harvested in August 2017. However, the monthly total was still more than 16 percent higher than the average for the month. In addition, the state’s shrimpers are enjoying their second consecutive strong year. To date, Alabama is less than 200,000 pounds off last year’s record high and 67.6 percent above the year-to-date average.
Mississippi shrimpers gathered 824,000 pounds for their best August since 2015. However, that total was still below the historical August average by more than 16 percent. For the year, the shrimp landings of 3.4 million represent a 21.6 percent decline from the historical average.
Florida’s Gulf Coast fishermen reported 165,000 pounds in August, a slight increase from a record-low 137,000 pounds collected a year ago. For the year, Florida shrimpers recorded their lowest eight-month total in five years with 3.2 million pounds harvested. That was off by 1.5 million pounds from last year and nearly 30 percent off the historical average.
Pricing data varied, as Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi shrimpers reported an increase by nearly a dollar to USD 8.76 (EUR 7.61) for U15. The 26-30 price remained steady at USD 3.14 (EUR 2.73), an increase of .02, while the 41-50 price dropped 16 cents to USD 1.85 (EUR 1.61). Texas shrimpers saw steep declines as the 26-30 price dropped more than a dollar to about USD 4.00 (EUR 3.47), and the 41-50 price also dropped by about a dollar to just above USD 2.00 (EUR 1.74).
Photo courtesy of Zirlotts Seafoods
