NOAA Gulf Landings Data for June Show Recovery for Louisiana Harvest, Continuing Decline in Early Year Texas Harvest
Last week, NOAA released landing volumes for shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico in the month of June.
These data shows a decent June harvest in the state of Louisiana, with landings ten percent above the prior seven-year historical average. More shrimp was landed in June (11.1 million pounds) then was landed in the state in the first five months of the year combined (6.6 million pounds) – something that hasn’t happened in Louisiana since 2007.
Nevertheless, even with the one strong month, landings in the state are still 25% below the historical seven-year average through the first half of the year.
Prior to the opening, June was another down month for Texas with the volume a remarkable 57% below the historical average for June over the previous seven years. For the first half of 2014, the total harvest in the state of Texas is almost half (45% below) the historical average from 2007-2013.
Shrimp landings in Texas have been steadily declining over the first half of the year from 2011 through 2014. The chart below shows the cascading decline in early year harvest volume in Texas over the last four years:
The same declining trend can be seen in landings for the month of June.
However, unlike Louisiana, the bulk of Texas’s harvest happens after the July opening. While landings in the first six months of the year have accounted for between 30 and 53% of the total shrimp harvested in a year in Louisiana, in Texas landings through June have only accounted for between 20 and 27% of the total annual harvest. There is no evidence of a similar declining trend with respect to the Texas harvest in the second half of the year. To the contrary, as shown in the table below, there was more shrimp landed in the second half of 2013 than in 2012 and these landings have been relatively consistent year after year:
Overall, the total volume of shrimp landed in the Gulf of Mexico thus far in 2014 is 25% below the seven-year historical average. Consistent with the depressed harvesting volumes, dockside prices continue to be reported at high levels. The table below, taken from NOAA’s monthly report, provides dockside prices for the Eastern Gulf, Northern Gulf, and Western Gulf. The table compares dockside prices in June for various count sizes going back to 2010. As the table shows, the prices reported are – across the board – unprecedented:
Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of June 2014 Shrimp Landings:
https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/June-2014-Landings.pdf