A Disastrous Year for the Commercial

A Disastrous year for the Commercial Shrimping Industry

Shrimp is the prize of the Gulf Coast. It’s one of the most commercially lucrative fisheries in the United States and for good reason, too. According to NOAA, in 2017, fishers along the Gulf Coast caught over 225 million pounds of shrimp, valued at 440 million USD. Texan shrimpers account for 45% of the total shrimp harvested and is the most valuable shrimp harvested in the United States.

Unfortunately the 2019 season ended disastrously for most involved with the Gulf seafood industry. Shrimp harvests were reported down 30% - 70% across the entire gulf.

According to NOAA fisheries, although local environmental factors (temperature, rainfall amounts, and tidal heights) should have contributed to favorable conditions for brown shrimp recruitment and growth in Texas, freshwater inflow into Galveston Bay (on which the forecast model is based) from the Trinity River watershed resulted in salinities near zero in much of the bay. Subsequently, the availability of suitable nursery habitat was limited to West and Lower Galveston Bay. Likewise, growth may have been affected by the lower salinities. Adding to this issue, the 2019 Mississippi River flood is the longest lasting flood on record since 1900. The Bonnet Carré Spillway opened for an unprecedented two times in 2019, for a total of 123 days with marine Biologists suggesting a direct correlation between the salinity level and the drastic decline in the shrimp harvested.

Sediment diversions are a new and largely untested method of channeling river water rich in silt, sand and other sediments into estuaries that have been cut off from these land-building and land-restoring inputs. The Mississippi’s extensive levee system has, for more than a century, severely limited the flow of sediments into its delta, exacerbating the state’s land loss crisis.

As much as 50% of the shrimp landed in Texas are harvested outside of Texas waters, therefore any impact to fisheries in Louisiana and Mississippi has a direct and pronounced impact on our industry, says Andrea Hance, Executive Director of the Texas Shrimp Association.

Earlier this year, Congress passed an emergency disaster relief package that included $150 million to mitigate the effects of commercial fishery failures as a result of the diverted levels of fresh water along the Mississippi river. The Declaration would allow the federal government to supplement the flood fight costs for state and local agencies along with damages incurred.

Unfortunately Mrs. Hance’s efforts to persuade Texas law makers, including our Governor to join the other Gulf states by requesting a disaster declaration has fallen on deaf ears - which doesn’t surprise Mrs. Hance. For years, we’ve been forced to compete at a severe disadvantage. Texas was the only gulf state to allocate B.P monies (specifically to market our seafood) to other state projects –this was also the case for the 14 million dollars recently awarded to Texas, specifically to assist our industry after Hurricane Harvey.

Although our industry contributes approximately $750,000,000 to the states economy- providing thousands of jobs, is home to the largest number of gulf fishing vessels, and is the most valuable shrimp in the U.S. – the lack of support simply defies all logic.

Meanwhile, TSA will continue to fight for any type of industry assistance and hopefully provide enough support to save this industry.

If you would like to support the Texas Shrimping Industry – a non-profit organization, please consider a small donate by visiting their website. (www.TexasShrimpAssociation.org).