Last year, Oregon's harvest impressively exceeded 40 million pounds, whereas Washington's catch nearly halved compared to the year before.

Nonetheless, the combined efforts of both states' fisheries amounted to a total of over 56 million pounds, aligning with the ten-year average.

For the upcoming season, forecast modeling by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is indicative of a smaller harvest for Oregon than the last few years.

As for Washington, ODFW modelings are often looked at to forecast shrimp production for the upcoming season, however the unexpectedly low harvest of 14 million pounds last year was possibly contributed by lower fishing efforts due to low shrimp prices, rising fuel costs, and the increased distances required to find shrimp.



Despite a robust harvest in 2023, average ex-vessel pricing hovered around the low $0.40 per pound mark throughout the year, which is one of the lowest since 2010.

Hypothetically, if combined annual harvest from Washington and Oregon come in around 40 million pounds for 2024, the last time this amount was harvested saw ex-vessel pricing around $0.70 per pound.

This season, age-one 2023 year class shrimp is what should compose the largest component of the fishery by number - followed by age-two and age-three being the lower percentile.

Our recommendation is to assess your shrimp programs for the year, then make your appropriate inventory allocations.

Just as we reported in December, the pulse on inventory in cold storage may not be exhibiting the large surplus situation as the market observed in past years.

A more limited supply through 2024 could lead to upward price pressure for the North American shrimp market.



Regarding the recent headlines on US duties for imported Ecuador, India and Vietnam shrimp - it’s too early to know how this will affect the overall landscape of the shrimp market in the U.S.

In 2023, India, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Vietnam exported more than 700,000 metric tonnes worth $5.5 billion to the US market.

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