The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) new statistics show that Gulf of Mexico fishermen landed 3.2 million pounds of shrimp in February, the third largest harvest recorded for the month since 2001.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) said the landings were 16 percent above the 16-year historic average for February, and so far in 2017, shrimp landings are just 3.4 percent below the 16 year average.
"The first two months of the year account for only a small portion of annual Gulf shrimp landings, generally between 4 percent and 7 percent of yearly totals," SSA said in a statement. "While the volume of shrimp landed in the Gulf so far this year has been in line with historic averages, ex-vessel prices have shown significant improvement across count sizes."
The ex-vessel price for US shrimp in the Western Gulf -- $10.42 (€9.60) per pound -- is the highest reported for any February, and ex-vessel prices for 41/50 count shrimp increased in all Gulf regions compared to February 2016.
Those prices jumped from $1.70 (€1.60) per pound last year to $3.27 (€3) per pound this February.
