The Sinking Shrimp Industry

BY KYLIE SELLMAN

The Texas Gulf Shrimp industry has seen a steady decline over the past 25 years, but this decline grows more rapidly with every passing year. On average, the Texas Gulf Shrimp industry produces and markets 40 million pounds of shrimp annually. With most boats tied up and an influx of imported shrimp, those numbers are down by 60% this year. The industry is in a freefall as it battles lack of commercial fishing permits, over regulation, a labor shortage and much more.

As the industry continues to decline, the United States is increasing the amount of shrimp that it imports. The amount of imported shrimp is expected to hit an all time high in 2022 with a projected 2 billion pounds entering the country from countries like China, Indonesia and Ecuador. Rising importation rates are flooding out the gulf shrimp market making it almost impossible for shrimpers to sell their product. On average, imported shrimp costs the consumer $5 less per pound. While gulf shrimp does come at a higher price than its competitor, the consumer receives a safer and higher quality product.

Being the 7th most regulated industry in the United States, Gulf Coast shrimpers are guaranteed to deliver a quality product, but imported shrimp cannot say the same. Out of the 2 billion pounds of shrimp that gets imported annually, only 1% of it actually gets tested by the FDA. A quarter of that 1% is red flagged for containing harmful chemicals that are banned in the United States, but the product still makes its way to the hands of consumers. Before a Gulf Coast shrimp can enter the market, it is faced with over 13,000 regulations causing the industry to be regulated out of business.

The Gulf Coast Shrimp industry had 5,000 commercial fishing permits 25 years ago, but like the rest of the industry those numbers have since declined. Only 950 of those permits remain, and this year’s catastrophic season is expected to drop that number

closer to 500 permits.

Roughly 25% of fleets are attempting to fish this year leaving a majority of shrimp boats tied at the docks. The market for gulf shrimp is so low that about half the boats come in with shrimp that they are unable to sell. Costs to operate these boats have increased four times as much from 30 years ago, but the price of shrimp has not seen that same increase. Today, a pound of shrimp costs less than it did 30 years ago due to the suppression of the market caused by imported shrimp.

The labor shortage sweeping the nation does not stop at the commercial shrimp industry. Since the shrimpers cannot afford to send out a majority of the boats, many employees have chosen to leave the industry in hopes for more stability. The average age of a shrimp boat captain is in the early 60s. No new people are entering the industry which is causing it to gray.

The Texas Gulf Coast Shrimp industry has an average impact of half a billion dollars on the state annually, but rarely sees assistance from the government when needed. The government continues to impose costly regulations and only provides relief in the event of a natural disaster. These attributes make it difficult for mom-n-pop shrimping operations to stay in business.

This season, a boat is estimated to lose $10,000 to $20,000 on their first time out. Big fleets of shrimpers are expected to overtake the industry since they are able to take more of these hits and be more efficient than smaller operations. It is difficult to be optimistic about an incline in the Texas Gulf Shrimp industry since there are no positive attributes or room for growth, but Texas shrimpers are hoping to at least level off the freefall that they are in. Product marketing could be a saving grace for the industry. Gulf shrimp are a niche, luxury product and should be marketed that way. The future of the shrimp industry can lie in product marketing, and the industry must band together to have their voices heard and hopefully stop the decline.

A special thank you to Andrea Hance for taking the time to spread awareness about the declining Texas Gulf Shrimp industry.