Overall US seafood imports fell 4.1 percent in value in the first four months of 2013, to $5.1 million (€3.9 million), from $5.4 million (€4.1 million) for the same time period last year, according to newly-released information by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
The imports declined nearly 2 percent in tonnage, as well, from 804,592 metric tons in 2012 to 790,419metric tons this year.
The value of US shrimp imports declined 7.8 percentfrom January to April of this year as compared to the same time period in 2012, according to the NMFS statistics.
Total shrimp imports were worth $1.4 million (€1.07million) through the fourth month of 2012, but just $1.2 million (€919,747) through April of this year, the NMFS information showed. Total tons shipped decreased 8.7 percent, from 159,824 metric tons last year to 145,967 metric tons this year.
Imports from Thailand were down in nearly all shrimp categories, as well. The country has been hit hard by early mortality syndrome (EMS) and faces a long road to recovery.
Another interesting contributor to the decline was crab, which fell nearly 19 percent through April of this year, as compared to the same time in 2012.
Total snow crab value dropped a whopping 43.9 percent between the two time periods and Canadian snow crab alone dropped 29.2 percent.
Total king crab continued its pattern of decline this year, falling 22 percent in value for the first four months of the year compared to last year