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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 5
January 2006
Limited markets plague shrimp fleet
PORTLAND, ME – The 2005-2006 northern shrimp season opened on Dec. 12 and played out just about as most people expected. Prices were low, and moving product often took extraordinary measures.
Fish markets bought token amounts for display cases. Vessel owners sold a few boxes here and there to peddlers. One buyer took 800 pounds for himself to distribute as Christmas gifts. And some fishermen shipped product directly to any city willing to give Pandalus borealis a try. Boxes went to Fulton Fish Market in New York and, in at least one case, a trial shipment went to Texas.
“It’s a very delicate market situation,” said Hank Soule, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange, which handled a good part of the volume landed during opening week through its 8 pm shrimp auctions.
“Inventories are loaded,” said Soule. “It’s a very, very ugly situation.”
Between Dec. 12-16, the exchange handled 22,892 pounds of shrimp on the auction floor. Roughly half of that product sold – primarily in the 45-to-51-cent-per-pound range. As for the other half, seller representatives scrambled hard to find alternative market outlets.
One lucky boat owner who had trucked product to Portland on Wednesday, Dec. 14 ended up with the only shrimp on the auction that night – 1,938 pounds. It drew 76 cents per pound, an anomaly that caused great excitement up and down the waterfront.
The event generated more fishing activity the next day, which led to very different results. Right around 14,000 pounds went up for auction from seven sellers on Dec. 15. Only 3,597 pounds sold. The price? Back down to the 45-to-50-cent range.
Things weren’t improving at press time during the first few days of week two of the season. Auction prices on Dec. 19 went as low as 25 cents per pound. The high was 40 cents.
On Dec. 20, a few Maine fishermen were “sitting on a bunch of shrimp” they couldn’t move at all, which was “pretty discouraging,” said one observer.
Markets tight
Cozy Harbor Seafood, the largest remaining processor of northern shrimp in the US, did not begin production in December. According to Spencer Fuller, Cozy’s shrimp director, the company was wrapping up its lobster line and planning to start up the shrimp side of the operation on Jan. 2.
In the interim, Fuller said Cozy Harbor was actively trying to line up new shrimp markets.
“We’re working on it all the time,” he said.
But the situation didn’t look good.
“It’s a pretty grim picture,” he said. “There’s tremendous competition from warm water shrimp, and there’s just way too much Pandalus borealis around.”
Some sellers, in fact, worried that Canada was so bloated with northern shrimp that buyers there might want very little US product this year. Canada has typically taken New England’s surplus, usually at significantly reduced prices, but at least it provided a market.
As in past years, Cozy Harbor was planning to put up its traditional cooked and peeled product, as well as a more limited amount of whole, frozen shrimp.
But he also said Cozy Harbor was continuing to pass along a consistent message to boats, “Don’t go if you don’t have markets.”
Barbara Stevenson, a seller’s representative on the Portland Fish Exchange who was handling shrimp for several boats, had similar words of caution, at least about December fishing.
“I’ve been telling everyone, ‘Do not go until after the first of the year,’” she said.
At press time, Stevenson said she had been able to eventually move all the volume she represented on the exchange, but it hadn’t been easy.
Nice size
Just about everyone contacted by Commercial Fisheries News (CFN) called it “disappointing,” “unfortunate,” “frustrating,” and “maddening” that markets weren’t available for northern shrimp because the product, for the most part, looked good, especially for December when shrimp sometimes can be mixed in size and quality.
“It’s probably the best shrimp I’ve seen this time of year,” said Portsmouth Fishermen’s Co-op manager Peter Kendall, who, at press time, was the only fisherman out of Portsmouth to make a few shrimp trips.
“The shrimp are big and beautiful, but there’s nowhere to go with them,” he said.
Stevenson also thought quality was exceptionally good for December. Reflecting back on the fish exchange’s Dec. 18 evening shrimp auction, she said, “I think you would have had to work really hard to find five fleas. The shrimp is lovely.”
A few CFN contacts reported mixy product the first week of the fishery in certain areas, and Fuller, who had been looking at catches to judge quality, said he had seen “everything from mixy to really clean.”
Except for an episode or two, product on the fish exchange seemed fairly consistent opening week. According to Soule, the shrimp were running in the 40-to-45-count-per-pound range.
Port sampling
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) began its shrimp port sampling program as soon as the season got underway.
Although vessel activity was low, early counts from the first few samples were quite decent, confirmed Maggie Hunter, DMR’s head shrimp biologist. Samples from New Harbor to Cundy’s Harbor produced counts-per-pound in the 40s, but also a few in the mid-to-high 30s.
“They’ve looked good,” she said.
No one could confirm the actual number of participating vessels in the fishery during opening week, but those handling product guessed that anywhere from 18 to 24 boats had ventured out.
Vessels were hailing from Port Clyde, Boothbay Harbor, New Harbor, South Bristol, Cundy’s Harbor, and York in Maine, among other places. And three boats had made trips from Rockport, MA at press time.
Many of the vessels were reportedly fishing around the 60-fathom curve and coming up with good tows.
“The volume has been great,” said Kendall, who himself caught 1,300 pounds on a two-hour tow one day.
Boats could be catching much more, he said, but most have been limiting themselves because of market conditions.
Expenses
Although many expected more fishermen to go shrimping in January, just about everyone thought the price would influence people’s ultimate decision.
According to Phippsburg, ME fisherman Proctor Wells, the real kicker was fuel costs.
“We’re getting about the same price for our shrimp as last year but fuel costs are much higher,” he said.
Kendall agreed. Between fuel costs, wharfage, poundage fees, and all the other expenses fishermen incur, the economics simply might not work out.
“We take out a dime here to unload,” he said of the Portsmouth co-op’s fees. “If you’re at 50 cents, it’s only 40 cents back to the boat. You add up the price of fuel and everything else, boats just aren’t going to go. There’s no incentive to go.”
On the other hand, Kendall said, if the price can at least stay in the 60-cent range, “That’s 50 cents to the boat. And if they can catch 3,000 pounds, then maybe it might be worthwhile.”
Janice M. Plante
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