Effects of Imports on Shrimp Prices in the Gulf & South Atlantic

Seafood remains a heavily imported product of the U.S., with shrimp being the first in terms of value and volume. When considering the importance of the fishery industry to the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast area economies, shrimping remains a vital enterprise for coastal residents in the United States. Many argue that decreases in the number of registered shrimp vessels could be the result of many factors, one of the strongest influences being foreign competition. With little previous research, this presentations attempts to analyze if empirical evidence exists to claim that increased volumes and values of imported shrimp products have any significant impacts on prices of domestic landings. Data derived from NOAA’S NMFS website are utilized for the following states: Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. We computed the weighted average price per pound for domestic landings and import shrimp products from 1990 to 2012 by month. A series of panel model specifications reveal that although the quantity of imported products did not appear to have significant impact on domestic prices, the unit price of imported products moved positively with domestic products.