Abstract

Shrimp is the primary fishery in the Southeast United States, generally accounting for 55%-60% of the total value of landings in the region. Like the domestic fishery, the U.S. import market is sizable, valued at $1.7 billion in 1990. Together, domestic production and imports support a large shrimp processing sector in the Southeast which supports several thousand jobs, either directly or indirectly. ; While domestic shrimp landings have remained essentially stable over the last two decades, imports have more than doubled and have changed in product composition. The increased imports and changing composition have impacted the structure of the Southeast shrimp processing industry. ; The purpose of this paper is to examine structural changes in the Southeast shrimp processing industry. The analysis, based on NMFS end-of-the-year surveys of seafood processing establishments, covers the 1973-90 period. Issues considered in the analysis included: (1) changes in numbers of firms and shrimp products produced, (2) changes in productivity measured in terms of firm output and output per worker, and (3) changes in industry concentration and specialization. ; In general, results indicate a decline in the absolute number of Southeast shrimp processors but a large increase in productivity per firm, measured on a poundage basis. Because of a decline in the per pound price of the processed products, however, deflated shrimp processing resumes per firm have remained essentially unchanged since the late 19708.

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