NOAA has now published landing volume data for shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico in the month of December.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance’s analysis of NOAA data indicates that for the full year 2014, the shrimp landings reported in the Gulf of Mexico (114.5 million lbs.) is roughly equal to the average of full-year landings reported for the Gulf over the prior seven years (2007-2013 yearly average = 114.6 million lbs.). Reviewing equivalent data available from NOAA going back to the year 2000, shrimp landings in the Gulf last year were 13.5% below the prior fourteen year historical average (2000-2013 yearly average = 132.2 million lbs.).
These data appear to show that declines in shrimp effort that characterized the beginning of the millennia have now stabilized over the last eight years, with corresponding consistency in the overall Gulf harvest.
The month of December was another good production month, helping to further offset poor landings at the beginning of 2014. The 8.8 million pounds reported as landed was the highest volume reported for any December since 2010 and the second highest since 2006. Furthermore, the total volume reported for December 2014 did not include any landings in Mississippi as there were an insufficient number of dealers reporting data for that month.
In Louisiana, the December harvest of 3.7 million pounds was the third highest total recorded for the month over the last nine years. In Texas, December landings of 3.0 million pounds were the highest reported for the month since 2010. In Alabama, December landings of 1.2 million pounds were the second highest total reported for the month over the last fifteen years. And for the West Coast of Florida, the December harvest of 0.8 million pounds was the highest reported for the month since 2005.
For the full year, while total landings in Louisiana were lower than in 2013 (57.7 million lbs.), the 57.4 million pounds harvested was the second highest total for the state since 2007. Total landings in Alabama of 13.0 million pounds were the highest ever recorded for a year since 2000 (13.1 million lbs.). Landings on the West Coast of Florida of 6.3 million pounds were the highest recorded for that region since 2006 (8.3 million lbs.). In contrast, for Texas and Mississippi, the 33.1 million pounds and 4.6 million pounds reported landed in those two respective states were the second lowest totals ever recorded going back over the last fifteen years.
As with prior months of strong landings, the ex-vessel prices reported by NOAA for December continue to be high. Information available from NOAA permits a comparison of ex-vessel prices reported for the month of December going back to 1999. These data demonstrate that ex-vessel prices continued to be strong, in line with those reported for December 2013, and substantially higher than those reported in prior Decembers going back to 2001.
Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of December 2014 Shrimp Landings and Ex-Vessel Prices:
https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/December-2014-Landings.pdf