Under 9 million pounds (4,082 metric tons – MT) of shrimp were landed in the Gulf of Mexico in November 2017, down slightly compared to a year previously and the lowest November catch recorded for the past five years.
This catch decline contines the trend seen in September and October when less than 7.2 million pounds (3,266 MT) and 11.6 million pounds (5,262 MT) of shrimp were landed respectively.
The Gulf’s accumulative shrimp catch for the past 11 months totaled 93.7 million pounds (42,502 MT), which was up on the 88 million pounds (39,916 MT) recorded at the same stage of last year, but short of the totals achieved in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
According to the latest data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, ex-vessel prices for most shrimp sizes in both the Western and Northern Gulf decreased. There was insufficient dealers’ reporting in the Eastern Gulf.
The average ex-vessel price per pound of UN/15 sized headless shrimp in November was USD 8.62 (EUR 7.18) in the Northern Gulf and USD 8.21 (EUR 6.84) in the Western Gulf. For 26/30 sizes, prices stood at USD 3.46 (EUR 2.88) per pound in the Northern Gulf and USD 4.08 (EUR 3.40) in the Western Gulf. For 41/50s, the prices were USD 2.28 (EUR 1.90) in the Northern Gulf and USD 2.29 (EUR 1.91) in the Western Gulf.
Gulf Coast fishermen landed 93.9 million pounds (42,592 MT) of shrimp in 2016, down from 106.9 million pounds (48,489 MT) in 2015 and the lowest level for five years.
NOAA’s data also finds that the United States imported close to 1.2 billion pounds (544,311 MT) of shrimp in the first 10 months of this year – the highest level for five years. The main imported shrimp formats during this period were peeled (676.5 million pounds – 306,855 MT), shell-on headless (422.7 million pounds – 191,733 MT) and breaded (86.2 million pounds – 39,100 MT).
The per capita consumption of shrimp in the United States stands at 4.1 pounds (1.9 kg), making it the country’s most popular seafood product ahead of salmon (2.2 pounds – 998 g) and canned tuna (2.1 pounds – 953 g).
