The largest shrimp fishery in the US, in the Gulf of Mexico, has achieved responsible fisheries management (RFM) certification status by the Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC), the accrediting organization announced Monday (July 15).
The certification applies to white, brown and pink shrimp caught with otter trawls, skimmers and butterfly nets in federal waters and the state waters of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the west coast of Florida.
This is the first shrimp fishery certified to the RFM standard, according to the CSC.
"We are proud to achieve RFM certification. It's a positive reflection of our harvesters' practices on the water and their work to ensure our shrimp is sustainably harvested," said Trey Pearson, president of the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA), the group that represents the domestic wild-caught shrimp sector.
"We are excited about the ability to highlight the USA origin with the RFM eco-label, something that matters not only to us but also to so many of our customers and consumers of gulf shrimp," he continued. "At a time when domestic shrimp is only 6-8% of the total US market share, being able to easily distinguish not only sustainable but also US products through a verified, traceable, front-of-package label is a top priority for the gulf shrimp industry."
To meet certification under the RFM standard, fisheries are evaluated in four key areas, according to CSC: management system; science and stock assessment activities using the precautionary approach; monitoring and control of the fishery; and serious impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem.
A third-party certification body, Global Trust, awarded the certification after a thorough evaluation. The final assessment report can be found here.
The report noted that the gulf shrimp fishery was worth $341.4 million in 2020, on landings of 175.25 million pounds. In 2018, the gulf shrimp fishery landings of 215.4m pounds, worth $393.6m, represented 74% of total US shrimp landings by weight and 79% by value, according to the CSC final assessment.
However, wild shrimp harvesters in the gulf have been hit hard by lower prices in recent years, with dock prices dropping by around 36% from 2022 to 2023, a problem the industry has blamed on the lower prices of imported shrimp, as previously reported by Undercurrent News.
The fishery has two major harvesting components. The small boat fleet, operating mainly in state inshore waters, using otter trawls, butterfly nets and skimmers. A large vessel offshore fleet, primarily operating in offshore federal waters, uses otter trawls.
Comments (0)
To view or post comments, simply
Already registered? Log in here:
Enter the email address associated with your account. We'll send you instructions to reset your password.
We’ve sent a link to to change your password.
Please check your inbox to reset your password securely and easily.