What was once booming shrimping communities in south Louisiana are now mostly abandoned as the state’s shrimping industry continues to grapple with international imports, The Center Square reports.
In 1989, the U.S. imported 502 million pounds of shrimp. By 2019, imports had grown to 1.2 billion pounds. Meanwhile, domestic production has declined by approximarly 48% between 2002 and 2022, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
So, what led to such an increase in imported shrimp?
“Our lawyers have found that shrimp farming companies overseas are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies from their governments,” David Chauvin, founder of David Chauvin’s Seafood Company, told The Center Square.
American shrimpers don’t receive similar support from their government. “We don’t get any of that,” Chauvin says.
Chauvin says he’s currently awaiting a ruling from the International Trade Commission on a lawsuit he filed against India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Ecuador, which make up 85% of all farm-raised, imported shrimp in the United States.
A group of U.S. lawmakers recently raised concerns that the U.S. Treasury Department may not be upholding its duty to protect American industries from unfair international competition.
