September 11, 2023 — The following was released by NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES ASSOCIATION:
As many of you know, the shrimpers in our state have been struggling to make ends meet this year. Foreign imports of shrimp have reached unheard of levels, all the while sending domestic shrimp prices to an all-time low. If the historic low prices were not bad enough, the sheer volume of the imported shrimp has also caused issues with buyers not having enough cold storage space for domestic caught shrimp. Adding to this inflation and high fuel prices is plenty enough hardship on our fishers to request a fishery resource disaster.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance did just this on August 25th and sent a letter to all 8 coastal governors from Texas to North Carolina. Our shrimpers have struggled all season with low price returns, lay days due to market conditions, high fuel prices, and inflation. Some vessels have not even harvested shrimp this year, knowing they would lose money every week just trying to work. It’s time to help our hard-working American families.
As of writing this update, we have yet to hear from the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), or Governor Roy Cooper’s Office on whether they intend to request disaster relief or not. We will keep you updated.