Landings data from NOAA for September 2015 report that last month was the second most productive September in the last six years for commercial shrimp fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico. Although below the volume of shrimp landed in September 2014 (16.0 million pounds), the total landed last month (14.6 million pounds) was the second highest amount reported for the industry in the month of September since 2009 and was 8.1% above the prior thirteen year average (13.5 million). On a state-by-state basis relatively low landings in Louisiana – 4.9 million pounds last month compared to 7.9 million pounds in September 2014 – were partially offset by an increase in the volume of shrimp landed n Texas – 6.1 million pounds last month compared to 5.5 million pounds in 2014 and a record-setting month in Alabama, where the 2.8 million pounds of shrimp landed were 151% above the state’s prior thirteen-year historical average for the month of September.
Landings through the first nine months of 2015 remain the lowest for the same time period since 2010 and are 16.3% below the prior thirteen-year historical average for the Gulf of Mexico. Overall, the total Gulf shrimp landings in 2015 (74.8 million pounds) are only slightly off the pace of total Gulf shrimp landings in 2014 (75.3 million pounds). The similarity in these totals masks significantly different experiences in Louisiana and Texas. In Louisiana, shrimp landings have fallen from 37.2 million pounds in 2014 to 29.8 million pounds in 2015. While in Texas, shrimp landings have increased by almost the same amount as they have declined in Louisiana, growing from 20.8 million pounds in 2014 to 28.1 million pounds in 2015. Landings in Alabama this year (9.1 million pounds) are on par with the record volume of landings in the state last year (9.1 million pounds) and are, for the second year in a row, larger than the total volume of landings reported in Mississippi and the west coast of Florida (both 3.9 million pounds) combined.
Ex-vessel prices reported by NOAA continue to reflect a difficult year for shrimp fishermen. Prices for large shrimp (U15 headless) in September 2015 for both the Northern and Western Gulf are roughly one-third below the prices reported for the same size shrimp in September 2014. Prices for medium-sized (26-30 headless) in September 2015 are roughly half what they were reported to be in September 2014. And prices for small-sized shrimp (41-50 headless) are also roughly half what they were reported to be in September 2014, except in the Western Gulf, where ex-vessel prices for this size shrimp were reported to be $1.03 per pound compared to $3.76 per pound in September 2014.
Please click the following link to view SSA’s compilation and summary of September 2002-2015 Shrimp Landings and Ex-Vessel Prices:
https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/September-2015-Landings.pdf