SunHerald
April 8, 2005

Experts say shrimp industry will see big changes in the future

By Cain Burdeau
AP

NEW ORLEANS - The Gulf of Mexico's offshore shrimp fleet could shrink 40 percent in 10 years if the government sets rules like those in the Alaskan fisheries, a seafood expert told shrimpers from Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Bob Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, said that the offshore fleet of about 2,500 boats could be reduced to about 1,500 if regulators require the kind of changes seen in Alaskan waters. He said the federal government views Alaska as a model.

Jones said observers could be placed on boats to make sure fishermen are following laws that regulate nets and bycatch, and electronic log books and a vessel monitoring system might be required to make sure boats don't fish in protected areas.

Such measures might be too costly for some shrimpers and just too much trouble for others, he said.

Besides boats that trawl in the Gulf, about 14,000 licensed vessels ply state waters along the Gulf Coast.

Jones spoke Thursday at a conference about how the Gulf shrimp fishery can survive into the future. The conference, "Innovations in Wild Shrimp Fisheries," was put on by Louisiana and Texas seafood agencies and Environmental Defense, a watchdog group. It ended Friday.

The shrimp fishery has been pummeled by cheap, farm-raised foreign imports and rising operating costs in recent years. Southern shrimpers succeeded in getting tariffs slapped on imports from six Asian and South American nations this year. Whether the tariffs will drive up prices enough to help them is still to be seen.

"We can either embrace the global economy or resist change," said Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. "Those who are willing to change will survive."

Howard Johnson, an Oregon-based seafood consultant and former director of the National Fisheries Institute, told the conference that shrimpers need to differentiate their fresh, wild-caught shrimp from farm-raised imports and emphasize it as "more natural."

A program, funded in part by the government, is underway to certify shrimp as wild-caught. Fishermen hope to fetch higher prices for their certified shrimp. The program is similar to programs that promote American salmon, Vidalia onions and Maine lobsters.

Johnson also said shrimpers need to market their product in Europe. "Pack your bags and go over to Europe to promote your shrimp," he said.

Another idea floated at the conference was to see if wild-caught shrimp could be labeled as "turtle safe." Since the late 1980s, shrimpers have been forced to use devices on their nets that allow sea turtles to escape if they get entangled. Fishermen fought hard against the requirements.

Johnson added that a quota system for shrimp, which is not in effect in the Gulf, might bolster prices. For example, he said that the Pacific halibut fishery rebounded after a quota system was implemented in 1997.

Quota systems allocate each fisherman a percentage of the overall harvest. Some fishermen like quota systems because they eliminate the rush to beat others to the harvest - which can result in poorer catches for all - and because they cut down on the number of competitors.

Phillip Lara, a shrimper from Corpus Christi, Texas, said quotas would give fishermen more control of their destiny and cut down on waste and damage to marine life.

"The point is to get regulators off of us so that we can fish like businessmen," Lara said.

Some fishermen complain that quota systems tend to favor big fishing operations and drive out smaller boats.

Georges Fraser, a cold-water shrimp fisherman from Quebec, Canada, said quotas helped shrimpers there. "We would not go back to the old system," Fraser said.

He added that each fisherman is allowed a maximum of 2.2 percent of the harvest, or 1 million pounds. "No big fishing corporation could come in and buy up the fishery."

In the meantime, shrimpers have adapted to the fall in dockside prices in other ways. Jeff Noel, a Texas shrimper from Rockport, said he has begun doing more direct sales, contacting buyers on the Internet from his boat.

"I'm the cyberspace shrimper, here," Noel said. "Everybody's selling off their boats now."