Supply Chain Roundtable
US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp
Read the Large Shrimp Sector Sustainability Update 2021.
The US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) focuses on monitoring sustainability status and issues in US shrimp fisheries and drives further improvements. The SR is composed of the leading US shrimp processors and distributors.
The SR undertakes improvement actions at a Gulf-wide scale (e.g., improving information on bycatch), while individual FIPs undertake improvement actions at the state or local level (e.g., boat-level gear inspections to ensure that turtle excluder devices are installed properly).
The SR focuses on shrimp fisheries in the US Gulf of Mexico, primarily those targeting white, brown, and pink shrimp. The US shrimp harvest is a relatively small portion of the worldwide production of large shrimp. However, this fishery is a leader in sustainability improvements and demonstrates best practices for wild shrimp fisheries around the world.
The US Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry has made vast improvements over the last 15 years, including stock monitoring, bycatch reduction, area closures, and sea turtle nesting enhancement projects.
Participating companies
- Bayou Shrimp Processors
- Big Easy Foods
- Biloxi Freezing & Processing
- Cox’s Seafood
- Dominick’s
- Gulf Pride
- JBS Packing, Inc.
- Paul Piazza
- Philly Seafood
- Wood’s Fisheries (Reese Antley, SR Industry Chair)
5 Active US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp FIPs
10 Roundtable Participating Companies
96 % US Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Production Improving
Join This Roundtable
To join the Supply Chain Roundtable or for more information, please contact Megan Westmeyer or call SFP at 1-808-726-2582.
Q4 2024 Update:
- In July 2024, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery was awarded Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification. This is the first shrimp fishery certified to the RFM Standard. Achieving RFM certification was a culmination of years of collaboration and fishery improvement work among the shrimp industry, management agencies, and NGOs. For 15 years, multiple industry-led fishery improvement projects (FIPs), supported by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Supply Chain Roundtable, Audubon Nature Institute, and Texas Sea Grant, worked diligently to implement changes needed in the fishery to ready it to pursue and successfully achieve RFM Certification.
- View the full history of this SR’s activities.
Sector Background
Currently, about 7 percent of global large shrimp production is considered sustainable or improving. The large shrimp sector includes farmed shrimp, wild warmwater shrimp, and larger coldwater shrimp such as Argentine red shrimp and spot prawns. Species are typically larger than 100 shrimp per pound in body size. About two-thirds of global large shrimp production is farmed.
Although wild-caught shrimp are not the main source of global supply in the large-shrimp sector, the US Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisheries (contributing only around 1 percent of global production in the sector) are an important source near the United States, one of the major markets for large shrimp.
Activity & Workplan
The focus of this SR is obtaining Marine Stewardship Council and Responsible Fishery Management Certification. Progress in these assessments may be monitored here:
Join This Roundtable
To join the Supply Chain Roundtable or for more information, please contact Megan Westmeyer or call SFP at 1-808-726-2582.