So we've been talking not of the price of tea in China, but the value of shrimp in the Gulf States. I did a little, tiny bit of research. Here's the kind of stuff that gets the professional in me all jubilant.
Dig this:
In the year 2000, total global aquaculture production was reported as 45.71 million metric tonnes (mmt) valued at US$56.47 thousand million. Over half of this was in the form of finfish (23.07 mmt or 50.4% of total production), followed by molluscs (10.73 mmt or 23.5%), aquatic plants (10.13 mmt or 22.2%), crustaceans (1.65 mmt or 3.6%), amphibians and reptiles (100 271 metric tonnes (mt) or 0.22%) and miscellaneous aquatic invertebrates (36 965 mt or 0.08%). Although crustaceans (a category comprised mainly of penaeid shrimps) represented only 3.6% of total production by weight, they comprised 16.6% of total global aquaculture by value in 2000.
Over half (54.9%) of global aquaculture production originated from marine or brackish coastal waters in 2000, as compared with 45.1% for freshwater aquaculture production. Although brackishwater production represented only 4.6% of total global aquaculture production by weight in 2000, it contributed 15.7% of total production by value. The main species groups reared in brackish water are high-value crustaceans and finfish (50.5% and 42.7%, respectively), while molluscs and aquatic plants dominate in marine waters (46.1% and 44.0%, respectively).
As in previous years, marine shrimp continued to dominate crustacean aquaculture, with shrimp production in 2000 reaching 1 087 111 mt (66.0% of global crustacean aquaculture production) and valued at US$6 880 068 900 (73.4% of total value). Aquaculture currently provides just over a quarter (26.1%) of total global shrimp landings. The main cultivated species are the giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), the fleshy prawn (P. chinensis) and the whiteleg shrimp (P. (Litopenaeus) vannamei), these three species accounting for over 86% of total shrimp aquaculture production in 2000.
The growth in production of crustaceans has continued to be strong, increasing by 6.8% by weight from 1999, a rate slightly exceeding that for finfish (6.7%), molluscs (5.8%) and aquatic plants (6.1%). The growth of shrimp production, while still significant, has decreased to more modest levels over the last decade (averaging 5%) as compared to the double-digit growth rates observed during the seventies (23%) and eighties (25%).
Now there's this:
The U.S.
produced approximately 324.8 thousand metric
tons of crustacean products from wild fisheries and
aquaculture sources in 2005, representing 3.26% of
world production.
And Wolfram Alpha tells me this about crustacean consumption in thousands of short tons:
1 | China | 3560
2 | United States | 1691
3 | Japan | 1245
4 | India | 352
5 | Indonesia | 322
6 | Vietnam | 244
7 | France | 232
8 | United Kingdom | 196
9 | Spain | 194
10 | Mexico | 143
So shrimp isn't broken out but this information gives us a start to understand what fraction of world production we produce and which fraction we consume. Bottom line by the facts is that we get such a large portion of our shrimp from overseas, loss of the domestic piece won't hurt much. I'd like to factor in the effects of White Spot Disease, but ran out of time.
I do like the concept of biosecurity maintenance. It implies this level of understanding.
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