An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

PRINT:

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

June 30, 2014

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.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Import price index, fish and shellfish, January 2004–March 2014
Date	All imports excluding fuel	Fish and shellfish
Jan 2004	100.0	100.0
Feb 2004	100.5	102.8
Mar 2004	100.9	107.4
Apr 2004	101.2	109.9
May 2004	101.4	108.0
Jun 2004	101.2	107.5
Jul 2004	101.3	110.0
Aug 2004	101.7	110.6
Sep 2004	101.9	109.1
Oct 2004	101.8	108.7
Nov 2004	102.0	108.0
Dec 2004	102.5	108.5
Jan 2005	103.0	109.6
Feb 2005	103.3	110.9
Mar 2005	103.4	112.8
Apr 2005	103.6	111.8
May 2005	103.4	111.2
Jun 2005	103.3	111.0
Jul 2005	103.1	113.6
Aug 2005	103.0	114.8
Sep 2005	103.3	114.8
Oct 2005	103.4	116.2
Nov 2005	103.3	114.4
Dec 2005	103.5	115.3
Jan 2006	103.8	115.0
Feb 2006	104.0	117.4
Mar 2006	104.1	119.1
Apr 2006	104.2	118.0
May 2006	105.0	118.9
Jun 2006	105.6	119.5
Jul 2006	105.6	120.8
Aug 2006	105.9	121.3
Sep 2006	106.2	121.4
Oct 2006	106.1	120.4
Nov 2006	106.2	118.6
Dec 2006	106.5	118.3
Jan 2007	106.8	121.3
Feb 2007	106.6	123.3
Mar 2007	106.8	123.7
Apr 2007	107.1	122.9
May 2007	107.6	123.4
Jun 2007	107.9	124.0
Jul 2007	108.2	125.6
Aug 2007	108.5	126.4
Sep 2007	108.5	126.9
Oct 2007	109.0	126.2
Nov 2007	109.4	125.0
Dec 2007	109.8	125.3
Jan 2008	110.5	127.5
Feb 2008	111.1	127.6
Mar 2008	112.2	131.6
Apr 2008	113.5	132.2
May 2008	114.1	129.8
Jun 2008	114.8	134.0
Jul 2008	115.5	134.3
Aug 2008	115.7	137.3
Sep 2008	115.1	134.1
Oct 2008	114.2	131.9
Nov 2008	112.2	128.5
Dec 2008	111.0	125.2
Jan 2009	110.2	126.1
Feb 2009	109.8	124.2
Mar 2009	109.1	126.5
Apr 2009	109.2	125.2
May 2009	109.4	124.3
Jun 2009	109.6	125.7
Jul 2009	109.4	125.1
Aug 2009	109.8	125.5
Sep 2009	110.2	124.8
Oct 2009	110.6	126.2
Nov 2009	110.9	125.6
Dec 2009	111.3	125.6
Jan 2010	111.7	124.8
Feb 2010	111.8	125.6
Mar 2010	112.0	127.2
Apr 2010	112.7	130.3
May 2010	113.2	133.0
Jun 2010	112.7	134.1
Jul 2010	112.4	136.2
Aug 2010	112.7	138.5
Sep 2010	113.0	140.6
Oct 2010	113.4	144.1
Nov 2010	114.3	145.8
Dec 2010	114.7	148.3
Jan 2011	115.5	151.6
Feb 2011	116.1	151.2
Mar 2011	116.9	153.1
Apr 2011	117.9	156.9
May 2011	118.3	158.3
Jun 2011	118.3	159.1
Jul 2011	118.5	161.9
Aug 2011	118.8	160.2
Sep 2011	119.1	160.1
Oct 2011	118.8	160.8
Nov 2011	118.5	158.3
Dec 2011	118.6	157.4
Jan 2012	118.8	159.9
Feb 2012	118.8	157.9
Mar 2012	119.3	158.7
Apr 2012	119.5	158.8
May 2012	119.4	155.5
Jun 2012	119.0	155.3
Jul 2012	118.5	152.3
Aug 2012	118.3	151.0
Sep 2012	118.6	150.1
Oct 2012	118.9	150.4
Nov 2012	118.7	152.1
Dec 2012	118.6	150.6
Jan 2013	118.8	151.8
Feb 2013	118.9	155.3
Mar 2013	118.8	161.2
Apr 2013	118.6	166.5
May 2013	118.1	170.0
Jun 2013	117.8	170.8
Jul 2013	117.3	172.4
Aug 2013	117.1	176.4
Sep 2013	117.2	181.9
Oct 2013	117.3	186.1
Nov 2013	117.3	184.2
Dec 2013	117.2	183.3
Jan 2014	117.5	190.5
Feb 2014	117.5	191.0
Mar 2014	117.8	191.3

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.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Show data for total

Show data for frozen

Show data for fresh

Show data for prepared

Pounds of U.S. shrimp imports from selected countries, total
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Thailand	404,372,876	424,978,695	448,177,820	409,581,095	300,006,265	185,514,706
Indonesia	185,297,674	152,843,187	134,690,411	155,060,940	163,311,539	178,786,098
Ecuador	124,199,261	135,754,432	143,355,643	162,681,017	178,934,031	163,902,764
Vietnam	106,486,618	93,045,714	106,622,094	100,144,289	90,724,752	131,745,462
India	34,025,587	43,949,755	66,585,881	106,317,162	145,418,448	207,699,729
China (Mainland)	106,178,864	97,133,851	106,030,837	94,737,819	78,575,953	71,569,786
Mexico	76,047,345	90,657,996	51,888,585	68,063,191	57,556,421	40,673,514
Other countries	212,287,612	179,052,816	179,373,557	175,453,279	162,033,456	140,173,359
Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Pounds of U.S. shrimp imports from selected countries, frozen
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Thailand	244,262,155	247,902,552	269,157,712	234,556,567	175,137,050	99,156,464
Ecuador	122,345,249	133,828,968	141,520,489	159,902,021	175,015,802	160,029,655
Indonesia	159,887,713	126,881,309	114,302,492	131,029,654	141,597,827	151,291,830
India	29,656,696	37,325,207	61,542,052	99,263,637	138,621,109	194,396,954
Vietnam	88,621,832	77,210,472	79,643,934	67,043,126	64,975,539	81,046,759
Mexico	75,965,238	90,599,569	51,792,678	67,851,367	57,135,795	39,933,035
Malaysia	58,741,278	34,016,217	49,886,389	60,759,779	48,671,903	21,403,584
Other countries	164,508,744	148,280,243	147,079,077	128,053,884	121,953,981	123,675,815
Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Pounds of U.S. shrimp imports from selected countries, fresh
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
China (Mainland)	920,738	1,244,339	1,002,281	2,195,188	1,319,828	1,339,811
India	821,828	1,000,729	1,013,553	1,043,952	1,020,057	164,624
Thailand	415,055	419,257	319,485	319,955	236,388	127,096
Ecuador	165,940	52,832	103,059	174,985	501,047	481,002
Pakistan	296,874	170,792	201,943	224,435	130,029	66,359
Malaysia	180,865	189,243	232,074	134,264	156,552	171,121
South Korea	334,538	71,108	71,176	181,354	189,959	197,686
Other countries	1,215,540	1,067,868	956,848	960,142	517,989	513,609
Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Pounds of U.S. shrimp imports from selected countries, prepared
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Thailand	159,695,666	176,656,886	178,700,623	174,704,574	124,632,826	86,231,146
China (Mainland)	68,241,872	71,591,376	72,187,997	64,615,498	56,991,137	53,627,088
Vietnam	17,820,738	15,608,834	26,798,283	32,774,956	25,706,503	50,696,584
Indonesia	25,129,554	25,961,801	20,387,919	24,031,286	21,642,036	27,493,907
India	3,547,063	5,623,819	4,030,276	6,009,572	5,777,282	13,138,152
Canada	8,838,671	5,081,343	4,263,126	4,372,043	3,475,132	3,549,133
Malaysia	7,470,871	6,407,249	3,555,755	3,628,437	1,792,073	657,390
Other countries	9,811,119	10,224,433	7,975,606	8,208,116	9,363,021	10,676,616
Source: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

These data are from the BLS International Price Program and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. To learn more, see “Shrimp disease in Asia resulting in high U.S. import prices” (HTML) (PDF), by Kristen Reed and Sharon Royales, Beyond the Numbers, June 2014.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Shrimp disease in Asia resulting in high U.S. import prices at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140630.htm (visited March 15, 2026).

OF INTEREST