GULFPORT, Miss. — December 17, 2013 — Seafood prices may be at an all-time high for the local bounty.
A shortage of shrimp and crab is driving up prices, although oysters are only slightly more expensive than last year, said Andrew Gunkel, general manager of Quality Poultry and Seafood in Biloxi.
One reason for rising shrimp prices on the coast is a shortage of imported shrimp.
A new strain of a common bacterium has been wiping out populations since 2009 in southeast Asia, where most of the world’s shrimp is raised on farms.
It started in China then spread to Vietnam and now Thailand, the world’s largest shrimp exporter. Quantities of shrimp from Thailand have dropped 37 percent from last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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