Jun 2, 2026
Louisiana shrimper Acy Cooper spent decades making his living in the Gulf of Mexico. But this year, his longtime trawler, the Lacy Kay, has remained tied to the dock while Cooper works a second job ferrying oil-rig crews offshore.
Cooper, now based in Port Sulphur, Louisiana, is spending his days ferrying oil rig workers to offshore platforms — a second job he took to survive after his diesel costs surged more than 50% in just three months, according to NPR.
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Pump prices that sat around $3.50 a gallon rose beyond $5 by spring, driven by the U.S. war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closure.
“You can’t make enough money during this shrimp season in order to make it all here,” Cooper told NPR. “So we have to supplement our way of life.”
For operators of large offshore freezer boats requiring between 9,000 and 12,000 gallons of diesel per 30-day trip, that means much higher costs.
According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, one Alabama shrimp boat operator recently reported spending roughly $47,000 on fuel before a trip, about $20,000 more than the year before.
A brief window of hope, now closed
After years of falling prices, shrimpers had begun to see modest gains as tariffs on imported shrimp boosted market conditions.
NOAA Fisheries noted shrimp prices recovered 27% in 2024 from $1.28 the year prior, reaching $1.62 per pound, National Fisherman reports. Some shrimpers reinvested in their vessels during the winter, expecting a stronger spring season.
Then fuel prices spiked and erased it.
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“This industry could absorb an increased fuel cost a lot better if our markets were strong and hadn’t been flooded with foreign, farm-raised product,” Price told NPR.
The structural problem predates the current crisis by decades. A NOAA Fisheries report documented a years-long collapse in the Gulf industry’s economic stability: by 2023, Gulf-harvested shrimp accounted for just 4.5% of the U.S. market, down from nearly 29% in 1984 — meaning more than 95% of domestic shrimp consumption was met by foreign imports.
Inflation-adjusted dockside prices fell from over $6 per pound in 1984 to a low of under $2. Total Gulf shrimp revenue was cut in half between 2021 and 2023, falling from $489 million to $221 million. And in the mid-1980s, Louisiana alone had nearly 20,000 active shrimpers; today, fewer than 1,400 remain.
The culprit is decades of cheap imports (primarily farm-raised shrimp from India, Ecuador and other countries) flooding U.S. markets at prices domestic fishermen simply cannot match.
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By 2023, according to NOAA, Gulf-harvested shrimp held just 4.5% of the U.S. market — meaning more than 95% of domestic shrimp consumption was met by foreign imports.
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What Washington is doing
Congress has taken a concrete step. The Save Our Shrimpers Act passed the House on May 13 and now awaits Senate action.
The bipartisan bill would require U.S. representatives at international financial institutions to oppose financial assistance for foreign shrimp farming and processing operations that compete directly with domestic shrimpers, ending a practice industry advocates say has used American taxpayer dollars to bankroll foreign competitors.
But the legislation won’t immediately raise dock prices or provide direct relief. As National Fisherman notes, its real-world impact depends on whether international institutions are actively funding new shrimp projects and how consistently U.S. representatives exercise their opposition.
The USDA has also launched a new Office of Seafood, which Price hopes will eventually create access to assistance programs that have historically been available to land-based farmers but have never extended to commercial fishing operators.
“We’re not asking for checks or a payout,” he told NPR. “We just want a level playing field.”
For Cooper, the message to Washington is simpler. “Help us with these fuel prices,” he told NPR. “We’re farmers of the sea. We want something to fall back on when something like this happens, so we can be taken care of also.”
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
