Shrimp along the Gulf Coast are seeking stronger federal protections, saying unfair foreign trade practices and international investments are destroying the industry.
Shrimp along the Gulf Coast says it needs more help from the federal government with cheap shrimp imports from countries such as Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Mutual tariffs on imports from countries pending 90 days have made the shrimp wonder if they will desperately get the lifeline they need. Some shrimp farmers are ready to push forward with measures such as raising imports to 25%.
The Louisiana shrimp task force and Rodney Hollander have been coasting the Gulf waters for shrimp for over 40 years.
Shrimp season is just a month away. But Rodney said the shrimp industry has been suffering for years. Now he is working with the Trump administration, hoping to save his business.
Some Gulf shrimp believe that even small tariffs will benefit local farmed shrimp. (Fox News/Fox News)
When this is an American consumer, businesses will feel a 145% Chinese tariff stab
“We need to put hats on the amount of shrimp that comes to the country,” Rodney said. “You’ll have an excess of shrimp in the market and our prices will never rebound. So with these tariffs, we hope that it will turn things around. That’s the only thing we’ve put on our hats now. We’re losing the industry.”
According to NOAA Fisheries, between 2021 and 2024, the US spent between $6-8 billion a year on shrimp from other countries. Let it be the imported seafood at the top.
Thomas Hollander said the number of commercial fishermen has dropped to thousands in recent decades. (Fox News/Fox News)
In 2023 alone, NOAA Fisheries said that US seafood imports are more than $20 billion more than seafood exports.
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Thomas Hollander of the Louisiana Shrimp Association said the trade gap would make the situation worse.
“You can only go before, and we feel like we hit that mark,” Thomas said. “We have only one way left to go now, and it’s backed up.”
Industry leaders say tariffs can be key to businesses where tariffs are floating.
The Louisiana Shrimp Task Force warns that US shrimp are undercut by cheap imports. (Fox News/Fox News)
“We’ve already received reports that shrimp prices are beginning to rise, so what we’ve heard in the last few weeks has been really good news. The prices of our products are rising,” Thomas said. “What I’ve seen in the last two or three years during this past administration was low prices.”
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On Wednesday, President Trump announced a 90-day suspension with higher tariffs in 75 countries, despite maintaining a universal fee of 10%.
Shrimp is fighting for a massive policy change in which revenue from trade penalties and obligations will be sent back to the industry. Now the money goes to the Ministry of Finance.
