Yesterday, NOAA issued landing volume data for shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico in the month of September.
Consistent with reports over the last several months, landing volumes in Louisiana were well above historical averages. Archival data available from NOAA’s Office of Science and Technology indicates that the volume of shrimp landed this last month in Louisiana (7.9 million pounds) was the largest recorded for the state in a September since 2003 (8.0 million pounds). The volume of shrimp landed in Louisiana this September was a remarkable 63.2% above the seven-year (2007-2013) historical average for the month of September (4.8 million pounds).
Robust landings over the last several months have now made up for a poor harvest in Louisiana over the first five months of the year, such that the total state harvest for 2014 (37.2 million pounds) is roughly equal to the seven-year historical average for the first nine months of a year (37.3 million pounds).
For the entire Gulf, landings for the month (16.0 million pounds) were 31% above the seven-year historical average (12.1 million pounds) and – going back to 2002 – was the fourth most productive September recorded for shrimp landings:
- September 2006 (19.0 million pounds)
- September 2003 (17.3 million pounds)
- September 2009 (17.1 million pounds)
- September 2014 (16.0 million pounds)
The Gulf-wide harvest total was again boosted by another big production month in Alabama, where 1.7 million pounds of shrimp were reported landed in September compared to 781k pounds last year and 648k pounds in 2012. It was the most productive September reported for Alabama since 2009 (2.3 million pounds) and the second highest volume September going back to 2002.
Going through the archival data available from NOAA’s Office of Science and Technology dating back to 2002, the 9.1 million pounds of shrimp reported as landed in Alabama is the highest total ever recorded for the first nine months of a year in that state. The next highest were 2009 (8.7 million pounds); 2006 (8.5 million pounds); and 2012 (8.0 million pounds).
For the entire Gulf, landings for all of 2014 (75.3 million pounds) are 8% below the seven-year historical average (81.7 million pounds). This represents the lowest volume of shrimp landed Gulf-wide since 2010.
The primary drag on landings volumes has been Texas, which has continued to report weaker landings data, although total production in September (5.5 million pounds) was only 1.4% below the seven-year historical average (5.6 million pounds). For the year, the volume of shrimp landed in Texas remains significantly (30%) below the seven-year historical average and this has been the lowest volume year recorded since 2008.
Finally, as reported by NOAA, dockside (ex-vessel) prices for shrimp continue to be significantly higher than what has been reported for past Septembers, as shown in the chart below:
II. Ex-vessel price, (Average dollars per pound, headless)
September 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
————————————————————————
EASTERN GULF (Florida west coast ports)
————————————————————————
UN/15 7.85 7.85 7.55 8.85 9.88
15/20 6.10 6.15 5.00 7.55 8.48
21/25 4.45 5.20 4.50 6.30 7.34
26/30 3.50 4.40 3.85 5.50 6.93
31/35 3.00 3.40 3.20 5.00 5.86
36/40 1.95 2.80 2.75 4.30 4.98
41/50 1.80 2.40 2.30 3.30 4.19
————————————————————————-
NORTHERN GULF (Alabama, Louisiana, & Mississippi)
————————————————————————-
UN/15 5.50 6.30 6.40 9.00 9.47
15/20 4.85 5.00 4.90 6.20 7.25
21/25 3.95 4.15 4.20 5.15 6.34
26/30 3.40 3.60 3.75 4.65 6.10
31/35 2.80 2.95 3.10 4.00 5.02
36/40 2.20 2.45 2.60 3.75 4.38
41/50 2.00 2.10 2.20 2.95 3.93
————————————————————————-
WESTERN GULF (Texas ports)
————————————————————————-
UN/15 7.00 8.10 7.00 9.60 10.62
15/20 5.35 4.85 5.15 6.85 6.12
21/25 4.20 4.20 4.20 5.60 5.79
26/30 4.00 3.60 3.70 5.25 5.76
31/35 3.00 3.15 3.25 4.60 4.85
36/40 2.05 2.35 2.90 3.85 4.28
41/50 1.80 2.05 2.45 2.95 3.76
Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of September 2014 Shrimp Landings:
https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/September-2014-Landings.pdf