Shrimp disease in Asia resulting in high U.S. import prices

In 2013, consumers and businesses found themselves paying higher prices for shrimp with less product available in supermarkets and restaurants. One of the leading factors behind higher shrimp prices since 2010 is a shortage of imports from the top shrimp producers in Southeast Asia due to an early mortality syndrome (EMS) epidemic in juvenile shrimp.

A bacterial disease known as acute hepatopancreatic necrosis syndrome (AHPNS) causes EMS. The disease spreads quickly as shrimp eat and infect other shrimp, and it can wipe out a pond’s entire shrimp population within a matter of months. In addition, the syndrome’s onset takes place before the shrimp are mature enough to reproduce. First appearing in China in 2009, AHPNS spread to Vietnam in 2010, Malaysia in 2011, and Thailand, the world’s largest shrimp exporter, in 2012. AHPNS has affected shrimp supplies, particularly Pacific white shrimp and black tiger shrimp, in the latter three countries.

With the problem now identified, the shrimp industry is hopeful that production will start to increase. In the meantime, other countries, such as India, have increased their production to help ease some of the pressure. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. shrimp imports from India increased 42.8 percent in 2013.