The Amount of Shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico is Dwindling

SeafoodSource.com wrote in early December that the shrimp population in the Gulf of Mexico was well below historical averages. “The total catch for 2016 is down 23.8 percent below average, with catches in Louisiana down 30 percent and Texas down 25.9 percent from their previous historical averages,” they explain. And due to the drop in shrimp population, the price of shrimp is increasing.

This month, NBC 2 in Fort Myers, Florida reported that some fishermen are now finding shrimp in unlikely areas, while other captains are wondering where all the shrimp have gone. “They need to do a study, get some of these universities, give them some grant money, and let them do studies on why there’s no shrimp here, why there’s shrimp here… [The captains] are catching shrimp in places they haven’t caught shrimp in 12 to 15 years,” Dennis Henderson, co-owner of Trico Shrimp Co., told the news. He says that his business is still doing well despite very rough times in September and October.

Henderson believes that the shrimping industry will improve, although the past four years have seen a decline in landings. NBC 2 writes, “Shrimpers caught more than 3 million pounds less this past December than in Decembers past.”