The U.S. Department of State late last week gave Mexico the OK to resume exporting wild shrimp to the U.S. market, six months after an import ban went into effect.
The move comes as U.S. shrimp prices are trending upward. After leveling off in the summer, they’ve been on the rise since mid-September and are up significantly from a year ago.
For example, Pacific whites farmed in Latin America are commanding up to USD 6.50 a pound for 21-25s, up more than USD 2 from a year ago, while Pacific whites raised in Asian are quoted in the mid- to high-USD 5 range for 21-25s, also up about USD 2 from a year ago.
The increase in U.S. shrimp imports from Mexican won’t nearly be enough to satisfy demand or keep prices from rising.
The import ban did not include farmed shrimp. Still, Mexico’s shrimp exports to the U.S. market have taken a big hit since the ban went into effect on April 20.
In the first eight months of 2010, U.S. shrimp imports from Mexico were down 33.3 percent, to 23.6 million pounds. In August alone, they were down 97 percent, to a mere 146,000 pounds. At nearly 92 million pounds, Mexico was the sixth largest supplier of shrimp to the U.S. market last year, behind Thailand, Indonesia, Ecuador, Vietnam and China.
However, through August, U.S. shrimp imports were up over last year for the first time this year. In the first eight months of 2010, shrimp imports totaled 731.6 million pounds, compared to 729.2 million pounds during the same period in 2009. After falling in 10 of 11 months, U.S. shrimp imports have increased in each of the last three months (June, July and August).
The import ban came after the State Department cited a limited number of Mexican trawlers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and Sea of Cortez for improper use of turtle excluder devices (TEDs) designed to reduce sea turtle mortality.
On Friday, the agency confirmed that Mexico’s government had implemented a plan to strengthen sea turtle conservation in its shrimp trawl fisheries so that it’s now “comparable in effectiveness to the U.S. program.”
