NOAA Fisheries landings data for 2024 show sharp declines in U.S. Gulf and South Atlantic catches. That trend is likely an indicator of the impact competition from inexpensive imported shrimp is having on the U.S. domestic market, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
The U.S. landings “confirm the incredible damage caused to the U.S. shrimp industry by the massive influx of cheap, farmed shrimp imported into this country over the last four years,” the alliance said in its analysis issued Sept. 15.
NOAA’s figures show 158.9 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf and South Atlantic last year with a total value of $257.9 million. “This is by far the lowest amount of shrimp harvested in these regions since 1961,” according to the alliance.
The industry group’s paper includes graphics generated from annual landings totals.
“Last year’s commercial shrimp landings were 25 percent below the volume of shrimp harvested in 2023, when the American shrimp industry caught 210.8 million pounds valued at $269.1 million,” the group found.
“The landings reported by NOAA Fisheries for both 2023 and 2024 were much, much lower than the commercial shrimp fishery’s historical experience. Over the previous decade, spanning from 2013 to 2022, shrimpers in the Gulf and South Atlantic landed an annual average of 232.7 million pounds of shrimp worth $476.9 million.”
NOAA Fisheries’ reporting did note after sharp declines in the average per pound value of landed shrimp in both 2022 ($1.83 per pound) and 2023 ($1.28 per pound), “values recovered somewhat in 2024, increasing by 27 percent from 2023 to $1.62 per pound,” in what the alliance called “a sliver of good news.”
The alliance contends that a “flood of cheap imports caused fishermen to tie up their boats as they were unable to obtain income sufficient to cover costs.” The steepest declines were seen in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana.
“American importers continue to claim that cheap, contaminated, unfairly-traded foreign shrimp is not the root cause of the devastation experienced by the U.S. shrimp industry over the last two years. But NOAA Fisheries’ landings data confirm what our industry has been saying – low prices in the marketplace forced shrimp boats throughout the Gulf of America and South Atlantic coastline to tie up and not work,” said John Williams, the Southern Shrimp Alliance executive director.
“This commercial fishery has seen half of its value disappear due to the import onslaught. In response to the severity of our circumstances, every shrimper in this country is grateful for the steps President Trump is taking to meaningfully tackle unfair trade,” said Williams.
Texas shrimp volume in 2024 “was the lowest amount ever reported by NOAA Fisheries for the state over the last 75 years,” the Southern Shrimp Alliance saw. “As shown in the table below, the only level of landings similar to the 42.7 million pounds reportedly harvested by Texas shrimpers last year were the 45.8 million pounds of shrimp landed in 1950.”
Florida shrimp landings for 2024 were the second lowest ever recorded for the state, while Louisiana’s total under 60 million pounds of shrimp was the lowest in 50 years since 1975.
