Shrimp is a major part of the American seafood plate, but the supply behind it is increasingly international. U.S. consumption reached almost 2.780 billion pounds in 2021 on a heads-off-equivalent basis, while imports supplied 93% of consumption in 2023. At the same time, Gulf shrimp landings, vessel participation, prices, and profitability have weakened. These shrimp statistics put those changes in context, from American demand to farmed production and global trade.
Contents
- U.S. shrimp demand and import reliance
- Gulf shrimp landings over time
- Farmed shrimp and other crustaceans
- International shrimp trade
- The Gulf fleet and fishing activity
- Prices, costs, and profitability
U.S. shrimp demand and import reliance
U.S. shrimp consumption increased by more than four times between 1984 and 2023, according to the Snapshot: Economics of the Gulf of America Federal Shrimp Fishery. Demand has not been a steady climb, however. Consumption peaked at almost 2.780 billion pounds in 2021, measured on a heads-off-equivalent basis. It then fell 5% in 2022 from that peak and declined another 7% in 2023. Those figures describe total U.S. consumption, not just wild-caught or Gulf shrimp.
The domestic supply share has also changed sharply:
| Measure | Earlier reference | 2023 or latest stated figure |
|---|---|---|
| Gulf-harvested share of U.S. consumption | 28.7% in 1984 | 4.5% in 2023 |
| Imported share of U.S. consumption | — | 93% in 2023 |
| Farm-raised share of imports with a recorded farmed-or-wild status | — | Almost 96% in 2023 |
The import figure means that the U.S. market depends overwhelmingly on foreign supply. The farmed-or-wild figure applies only to imports for which Customs recorded that distinction, so it should not be read as a classification of every imported pound. NOAA also described shrimp as about 25% of the seafood Americans eat in its 2026 report description. Source: NOAA Fisheries Report Reveals Dire State of Gulf Shrimp Fishery.
Product form matters as well as origin. Shell-on and peeled frozen warm-water shrimp represented 73% of U.S. shrimp import value in 2023, for the portion of import value where Customs recorded farmed-or-wild status. This helps explain why aquaculture and overseas trade statistics are central to understanding the shrimp available in American kitchens.
Gulf shrimp landings over time
The Gulf fishery has experienced substantial year-to-year variation. Since 1951, annual changes in Gulf shrimp landings ranged from a 35% decrease to a 46% increase. The average annual change over that period was plus or minus 12%, according to the NOAA economic snapshot. These are changes in landings, not a claim that the stock or consumer demand moved by the same percentages.
The longer trend shows a clear contrast between the late twentieth century and 2023. Annual Gulf shrimp landings exceeded 200 million whole-weight pounds in every year from 1976 through 2007, and averaged 240 million whole-weight pounds per year during that 1976–2007 period. The fishery’s 10-year moving-average landings peaked at 252 million pounds in 2007.
By 2023, the 10-year moving average was 196 million pounds, the lowest value since 1970. That 2023 moving average was 22% below the 2007 peak. Looking at shorter and longer baselines gives two additional measures of the decline: 2023 landings were 15% below the average of the preceding 10 years and 24% below the average of the preceding 50 years.
The recent wild-caught numbers also moved lower. Gulf shrimp landings fell from 111 million pounds in 2022 to 107 million pounds in 2023. Those figures are from NOAA’s report description, NOAA Fisheries Report Reveals Dire State of Gulf Shrimp Fishery, while the longer series and moving averages come from the Snapshot: Economics of the Gulf of America Federal Shrimp Fishery.
Farmed shrimp and other crustaceans
Aquaculture supplies much of the shrimp consumed internationally. In the Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2020 aquaculture data, farmed whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) production reached 5,812.2 thousand tonnes live weight. Whiteleg shrimp accounted for 51.7% of the crustacean aquaculture production total that year. These are live-weight production measures, so they are not directly interchangeable with U.S. consumption figures reported in pounds on a heads-off-equivalent basis.
The same FAO table shows the scale of other farmed crustaceans:
- Red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii): 2,469.0 thousand tonnes live weight in 2020.
- Giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon): 717.1 thousand tonnes live weight in 2020.
- Giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii): 294.0 thousand tonnes live weight in 2020.
- Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis): 775.9 thousand tonnes live weight in 2020.
The eight major crustacean species listed by FAO totaled 10,705.3 thousand tonnes of aquaculture production in 2020. The full crustacean aquaculture table totaled 11,237.0 thousand tonnes live weight. The difference between those totals reflects the table’s broader species coverage; it is not an estimate of shrimp alone. Source: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022.
International shrimp trade
Trade data from the first three quarters of 2022 show how quickly shrimp moved through major markets. Shrimp imports in the five leading markets reached 1.36 million tonnes in January–June 2022, 13% above the same period of 2021. Ecuador was forecast to produce more than 1 million tonnes of farmed shrimp in 2022. The Ecuador figure is a forecast, not a reported final production total. Source: China becomes the world’s top shrimp importer.
The United States imported 441,299 tonnes in the first half of 2022, an increase of 9%. Those imports had a customs-declared value of USD 4.2 billion. By product type, raw peeled shrimp comprised 41% of U.S. imports in that period, raw shell-on shrimp 32%, and processed products 26%.
The European Union imported more than 400,000 tonnes in January–June 2022, up 11% year over year. Imports from non-EU sources totaled 296,407 tonnes, up 15.7%. China imported 370,123 tonnes in the first half of 2022, an increase of 25.8% year over year.
China’s import growth continued later in the year. Cumulative shrimp imports reached 661,822 tonnes by the third quarter of 2022, up 51.6% year over year. Ecuador supplied 395,000 tonnes, or 60%, of those Chinese imports through the third quarter. The time periods differ across these measures, so the first-half and first-three-quarter totals should not be combined.
The Gulf fleet and fishing activity
The number of active vessels in the Gulf shrimp fishery fell from more than 4,500 in 2015–2016 to fewer than 2,700 in 2023. Federally permitted vessels harvested approximately 67% of Gulf shrimp landings and generated about 75% of fishery revenue; both are estimates reported in the NOAA economic snapshot.
Among active federally permitted vessels, the fleet numbered 1,041 in 2021, 999 in 2022, and 846 in 2023. Operating intensity changed alongside participation:
| Federal fleet measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average days at sea | 160 | 127 | 125 |
| Average crew per active vessel | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| Average fuel use per active vessel | 50,279 gal. | 36,302 gal. | 34,262 gal. |
| Average shrimp landed per active vessel | 94,350 lb. | 91,647 lb. | 93,517 lb. |
Average implicit wage per hired crewday was $266 in 2021, $217 in 2022, and $156 in 2023. The estimated number of full-time-equivalent crew positions lost relative to 2021 was 860 in 2022 and 1,239 in 2023. Over 2014–2023, the average implicit hired-crew wage was $215 per day at sea.
Prices, costs, and profitability
The economics of the federal Gulf fleet deteriorated between 2021 and 2023. Average shrimp price was $4.64 per pound in 2021, $3.41 in 2022, and $2.50 in 2023, expressed in nominal 2023 dollars. Average revenue from operations per active federal vessel fell from $441,829 to $313,347 and then $241,334 across those years.
Costs did not fall as quickly. Average operating costs per active federal vessel were $398,331 in 2021, $328,963 in 2022, and $255,969 in 2023. The resulting average net revenue from operations was a $43,497 profit in 2021, followed by a $15,616 loss in 2022 and a $14,635 loss in 2023. Average profit margin moved from 9.8% to negative 5.0% and then negative 6.1%.
| Federal Gulf shrimp measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average shrimp price per pound | $4.64 | $3.41 | $2.50 |
| Revenue per active vessel | $441,829 | $313,347 | $241,334 |
| Operating costs per active vessel | $398,331 | $328,963 | $255,969 |
| Net revenue per active vessel | $43,497 profit | $15,616 loss | $14,635 loss |
| Average profit margin | 9.8% | -5.0% | -6.1% |
Across the federally permitted Gulf shrimp fishery, total net revenue was $41.8 million in 2021, negative $21.1 million in 2022, and negative $16.7 million in 2023. Total Gulf shrimp revenue fell from $489 million in 2021 to $221 million in 2023, according to NOAA Fisheries Report Reveals Dire State of Gulf Shrimp Fishery.
The 2014–2023 average cost structure puts fuel and labor at the center of operations: fuel represented 36% of typical federal Gulf shrimp fleet operating costs, while hired labor represented 27.7%. In the same report’s 18-year period, the fishery’s average annual profit margin was 0.5%.
The pressure is also visible in the fleet’s inactive permits. Inactive federally permitted Gulf shrimp vessels numbered 224 in 2021, 231 in 2022, and 333 in 2023. Compared with 2021, hired crews and captains earned $50 million less from federal Gulf shrimping in 2022 and $79 million less in 2023.
Finally, the long-run price comparison is stark: inflation-adjusted Gulf shrimp price fell from more than $6 per pound in the 1980s to less than $2 in 2023. That historical comparison and the 18-year margin statistic are reported by NOAA in NOAA Fisheries Report Reveals Dire State of Gulf Shrimp Fishery. The figures describe the economic record summarized in that report and should not be treated as a newly calculated series.