Shrimpers Travel to DC to Protect Duties
Representatives of the domestic shrimp industry, including the President and Vice-President of SSA, appeared at a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing to argue for a five-year continuation of antidumping duty orders on shrimp from China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
We thank all nine witnesses who testified on behalf of the U.S. shrimp industry. We are also grateful to U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA), and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) for advocating for the continuation of trade relief in separate letters to the Commission. A vote on whether to continue the antidumping duties is scheduled for June 1, 2023.
Shrimp AP to Discuss the ELB Spend Plan
At SSA’s request, Congress directed $850,000 for NMFS to continue the development and implementation of the newly approved Electronic Logbook program (ELB) that archives vessel position and automatically transmits scientific shrimp fishing effort data via cellular service to NMFS.
At the May 18th Shrimp Advisory Panel Meeting, the Southeastern Fisheries Science Center staff will present a draft budget proposal on how to spend the Congressional funding for shrimp vessel position data reporting in the Gulf of Mexico. The data is used to maintain access to traditional fishing grounds and the technology has a direct impact on shrimpers.
2022 Scholarship Recipient Working on Black Gill Research
In 2022, SSA awarded Chloe Gabriel a $1,000 student scholarship to pursue studies at East Carolina University. As a research advisee, Chloe documented the prevalence of Black Gill disease (sBG) in wild shrimp populations of the Pamlico Sound.
Early documentation and understanding of the impact of sBG on shrimp populations help inform actions. For example, SSA helped secure $1.062m in financial assistance to address a Georgia fishery disaster in part by documenting the high incidence of sBG.
In April, SSA endorsed the proposal of Chloe’s research team for NC Sea Grant funding to expand their sampling to understand sBG infection rates and virulence in North Carolina, which represents an emerging region for the disease’s spread.
SSA Requests Modification to Offshore Wind Site Proposals
Over the past year, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has worked cooperatively with SSA on siting of offshore wind facilities to avoid the vast majority of conflicts with the Gulf shrimp industry. A few areas of moderate-to-high shrimp fishing effort remain within the three proposed Lease Areas.
In comments submitted in April, SSA requested BOEM consider further modifications to each of the proposed Lease Areas, such as applying a 1nm-2nm setback on lease area boundaries that are in close proximity to high shrimp fishing activity. Offshore wind facilities affect all five Gulf states producing shrimp and remain a priority issue for SSA.
SSA Advocates for Higher Antidumping Duties on Indian Shrimp Exporters
In the seventeenth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on Indian shrimp, covering imports entered into the United States between February 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022, SSA’s Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee (AHSTAC) submitted case briefs to the U.S. Department of Commerce arguing that preliminary dumping margins calculated for two Indian exporters, NK Marine and Megaa Moda, were too low and should be increased.
In addition, both AHSTAC and the American Shrimp Processors Association submitted rebuttal briefs countering Megaa Moda’s arguments that its dumping margin should be reduced.
