The main shrimp species considered as coldwater are Pandalus spp., Crangon spp., and Pleoticus spp. Coldwater shrimp as a group experienced strong growth over the last two decades, some of which is due to a decline of the main predator species – cod and hake.

From 1982 to 2001, Pandalus borealis production more than doubled from 138 200 MT to 346 000 MT. Canada and Greenland are the main producing countries.

Canadian shrimp harvesters will enjoy a substantial 29% increase in the total allowable catch (TAC) this year, which means and increase of 34 260 MT. Canada experienced impressive growth in recent years, from a 37 600 MT TAC in 1996 to a TAC of 152 102 MT in 2003. Catch figures for Greenland in 2002 shows a total catch of almost 109 000 MT.

Pleoticus mulleri production is practically confined to Argentina. Production reached 70 000 MT in 2001, which is three times the “normal” level. Also in this case, the collapse of the hake resource has been seen as a cause of the boom in shrimp production. Volumes have however since fallen back significantly.

Crangon crangon production is very small when compared to other coldwater species, with production fluctuation around 35 000.

Europe is the main market for coldwater shrimp. The total EU imports of coldwater shrimp are estimated to be around 140 000 MT per year, with a strong trend of increase in the past years, reflecting higher catches. The strong catch levels have also contributed to a negative price trend for coldwater shrimps in its key markets. Coldwater shrimp represents a huge share of prepared shrimp imports into the EU. UK is by far the main importer of prepared shrimp in the EU, with almost 20 000 MT imported in the period January – June 2003. This is an increase of 14% compared to the same period in 2002.MT.

What seems to be an interesting trend is that Japan is importing more coldwater shrimp. Large quantities are being imported from Denmark, Greenland and Norway. Japanese coldwater shrimp imports declined during the Asian economical crisis in 1997, but have since then imports have slowly increased to almost 40 000 MT in 2002. In the period of January – June 2003 Japan has imported 16 000 MT frozen coldwater shrimp.

The main product form of coldwater shrimp – excluding Pleoticus mulleri – is cooked and peeled. The EU has a strong processing industry, and some of the coldwater shrimp is imported whole, to be processed into cooked and peeled products in Denmark and in the UK. Norway exports cooked and peeled products to the EU, mainly to Sweden, the UK and Finland. These three countries are the main consumers of Pandalus borealis in the EU.

Norwegian catches in the Barents Sea has been low this year, around just half of last year’s total. The January-June 2003 export is reduced with 15% compared to the same period last year. This may not be enough to cause an increase in prices, due to the fact that Canada has increased quotas. Also, Norway is loosing market share in UK to Iceland and Canada.

The Crangon crangon is preferred in those areas where its production is concentrated: Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. The main product form is cooked and peeled. Due to its small size and the costs of peeling machines, the peeling has for a great part been done by hand in Morocco and then shipped back to Europe. However, now more and more companies have invested in machine peeling in order to move production closer to the fishing grounds.

The Pleoticus mulleri species is generally bigger than the coldwater shrimp coming form the Northern hemisphere, and its main product form is whole, head-on, in line with the consumer preference in its major markets. The Pleoticus mulleri is mainly directed to Southern Europe, where it has a well established market. Most of the production is done in Argentine waters, and many of the fishing companies are of Spanish origin – and/or ownership.

2001 gave a record production of shrimp in Argentina with 70 000 MT. However, the foreign exchange crisis led Argentine producers to sell at very low prices. In early 2001, prices on shrimp from Argentina collapsed and influenced the EU market as a whole.

Quantities are now back to “normal” and prices are increasing. Argentinean exports to Spain in the period January-May 2003 of 7 000 MT compared to 15 000 MT in the same period last year. The same is the case for Argentinean exports to Italy in January-June 2003 of 3 090 MT compared to 7 620 MT in the same period last year.

Ingelill Jacobsen and Helga Josupeit
© 2003 FAO