After a significant delay in data release caused by the lack of authorized funding for the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Fishery Monitoring Branch of NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center today released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for November 2018.
After setting an historic low with just 10.4 million pounds of shrimp landed in October, the commercial shrimp harvest in the Gulf of Mexico was limited to only 8.2 million pounds, the lowest reported for any November in the records maintained by the Southern Shrimp Alliance going back to 2002.
Continued declines in the landings of shrimp recorded in Louisiana again drove Gulf-wide totals. Having only reported 3.1 million pounds of shrimp landed in November, Louisiana’s total was not just the lowest recorded for any November going back to 2002, but was half the prior sixteen-year historical average of 6.2 million pounds for the month.
Through November, 91.8 million pounds of shrimp have been landed in the Gulf of Mexico, down from 93.7 million pounds through the first eleven months of last year, and 19% below the prior sixteen-year historical average (112.9 million pounds).
For the fifteenth straight month, no ex-vessel prices were reported by NOAA for the eastern Gulf (the west coast of Florida). Ex-vessel prices reported for the northern (Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi) and western (Texas) Gulf were reported to be higher for U15 count size shrimp than in November 2017. However, for all count sizes 21/25 or smaller, the ex-vessel prices reported by NOAA for both the northern and western Gulf were significantly lower than the ex-vessel prices for the same size shrimp in the same regions in November 2017.
Landings data for December is still being compiled and will be released at a later date.
Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of November 2002-2018 Shrimp Landings and Ex-Vessel Prices for November 2001-2018: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/November-2018-Landings.pdf