Shrimp fishing industry

The shrimp fishery is a major global industry, with more than 3.4 million tons caught per year, chiefly in Asia. Rates of bycatch are unusually high for shrimp fishing, with the capture of sea turtles being especially contentious.

The term shrimp, as used by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), covers all shrimp (Caridea) and prawns (Dendrobranchiata, comprising Penaeoidea and Sergestoidea) – a group formerly known as "Natantia". This nomenclature often differs from local use, in which the same species may be known by different names, or where different species may be known by the same name.

Small-scale local fishery for shrimp and prawns has existed for centuries and continues to form a large proportion of the world's shrimp fisheries. Trawling increased in scale with the introduction of otter boards, which use the flow of water to hold the trawling net open, and the introduction of steam-powered vessels, replacing the earlier sail-powered boats. Both of these developments took off in the 1880s, and were soon applied to shrimp fisheries, especially following the research effort of the Norwegian marine biologist Johan Hjort. Over time, the original open skiffs, 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) long, were replaced by decked boats, to which diesel engines were added, allowing the boats to reach an average of 18 m (59 ft).

In the United States, shrimp and prawn fisheries are second only to crab fishing in terms of importance. In the northern parts of the country, cold-water shrimp are targeted, while warm-water species are targeted along the south-eastern Atlantic coast, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the production is of warm-water species, but this is dwarfed by the imports of shrimp, mostly from aquaculture. This has led to international controversies, with some United States fishermen accusing countries such as Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam of dumping shrimp on the US market, while some of the producing nations protested to the World Trade Organization about duties levied by the US in response to the inferred dumping.

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