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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 6
February 2009
Shrimp price down; global economy hits markets
FREEPORT, ME – Market prospects remained weak for northern shrimp harvesters and processors in mid-January, a month and a half into the season, which opened on Dec. 1.
Several factors related to the global economic situation had seriously limited the volume of shrimp that processors could successfully market through existing distribution channels: the strong US dollar in Europe; a strong Japanese yen; and reduced domestic consumption of high-end food products.
“The mindset right now is if there are shrimp out there to catch, there must be someone ready to buy the catch,” said Spencer Fuller of Cozy Harbor Seafood Inc. in Portland. “But this isn’t true anymore. The paradigm has changed.”
For example, Japan, which has been a small part of the market for US-caught northern shrimp in the past, is now buying elsewhere.
“Maine lost its market share in Japan when the Maine shrimp fishery was drastically cut back,” Fuller explained. “Russia, Norway, Greenland, and even Canada have nice shrimp and have been able to corner the Japanese markets.”
The European Union (EU) remains the largest market for shrimp harvested by both Maine and other northern shrimp harvesters. But unlike last year when there was a revival of EU interest in Maine shrimp, this year’s market has declined due to the increased strength of the US dollar in Europe.
Prices
As a result, Cozy Harbor, which buys shrimp from Rye, NH to Stonington, ME, has been unable to purchase at the volume and price it has in prior years.
“The price right now is ranging from 37 to 41 cents per pound if you’re landing in Portland,” said Fuller in mid-January. “If you’re landing in the outlying ports, the price is ranging from 35 to 37 cents per pound.”
Shrimp being trucked into Portland was getting 45 cents per pound. Fuller said the volume of shrimp his company has been able to handle has dropped in half this year.
“This is a terrible situation,” he said.
Boats stay home
Bob Campbell of the Yankee Fishermen’s Co-op in Seabrook, NH said the lack of solid markets and the poor price had convinced fishermen to stay out of the fishery.
“We are still feeling the effects of the global downturn,” he said. “Right now, we only have two boats going for us, which is a drastic drop from last year.”
Campbell added that another reason for the slump was a lack of demand for Maine shrimp because shrimpers in Canada had yet to reach their quota.
“The Canadians can still purchase shrimp domestically and do not need to import shrimp from Maine,” he explained.
Massachusetts basically was not in the picture.
“This has been one of the few winters where absolutely nobody has gone shrimping out of Cape Ann,” reported one industry observer. “Usually at least two or three vessels go, especially around the holidays. But, shrimp fishermen apparently have had enough of the fishery’s ebb and flow and have either stayed lobstering or groundfishing.”
Said former shrimper Jason Polisson of Gloucester, “I cut my shrimp net up into bait bags and trap heads.”
New strategies
Domestically, consumers were seeking out lower-cost foods in response to financial strains.
“The food service industry has been hit hard,” Fuller said. “People are not eating higher-priced foods.”
With little in the way of high volume market demand, some Maine fishermen have turned to roadside peddling, while others have trying out a new kind of selling arrangement – Community Supported Fisheries (CSF).
The Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC) was working with several dozen fishermen in Stonington and Mount Desert Island to set up CSFs to market their shrimp.
“The boat price for shrimp is terrible, but we are working to build an alternative market that will eventually serve as a win-win situation for fishermen and buyers,” said PERC Project Director Aaron Dority.
Through a CSF, consumers purchase a “share” of participating fishermen’s future harvest. The consumers get a set price and the harvesters get guaranteed customers. Deliveries are made weekly.
Under the PERC-organized CSF for Stonington and Blue Hill, shrimp shares were $1.50 per pound head-and-shell-on. Shareholders could buy a full 10-pound share for $150 or a five-pound half-share $75. The CSF is scheduled to run for 10 weeks total.
Dority reported that the first CSF delivery was on Jan. 10. In Stonington, the CSF had sold 10 half-shares to 10 customers who picked up a total 50 pounds. In Blue Hill, the CSF had sold 22 half-shares and six full shares to a total of 28 people who picked up 190 pounds.
“We will be starting our shrimp CSF drop-offs in Mount Desert Island and Ellsworth at the end of January,” Dority added.
The Midcoast Fishermen’s Co-op in Port Clyde was continuing the shrimp CSF it pioneered last year, selling 14-week subscriptions of half shares of five pounds per week and full shares of 10 pounds per week of whole, shell-on shrimp. Full shares were $210 and half shares were $105. Cooked shrimp shares were offered for an extra 50 cents per pound.
Shareholders could pick up their shrimp on either Saturday or Sunday depending on location in Damariscotta, Belfast, Port Clyde, or at one of two Rockland locations.
For more info on the Midcoast Fishermen’s Co-op CSF, call Glen Libby at (207) 372-8065. For more info on the PERC-organized CSFs, call Aaron Dority at (207) 367-2708 or e-mail him at <aaron@penobscoteast.org>.
Gina LeDuc-Kuntz
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