Down around the Gulf of America, America's shrimpers may be seeing a light on the horizon. For years they have been dealing with foreign competitors who undercut them in pricing, enabled by cheap labor - but that's changing now. The Trump administration has dropped most tariffs back to 10 percent for a 90-day hiatus while some deals are made. Our American shrimpers are advocating for trade protections - but the tariffs are already helping their viability in the shrimping business.

Shrimpers along the Gulf Coast say they need more help from the federal government with cheap shrimp imports from countries like Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam driving down local demand.

With reciprocal tariffs on imports from those countries on hold for 90 days, shrimpers are left wondering if they will get a lifeline they say they desperately need. Some shrimp farmers are ready to push for measures like capping imports at 25%.

Rodney Olander with the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force has been coasting the gulf coast waters for shrimp for more than 40 years.

Shrimp season is just a month away. But Rodney said the shrimp industry has been suffering for years. Now he's working with the Trump administration, hoping to save his business.

The laws of economics, of course, apply. About 90 percent of shrimp eaten in the United States every year are imported. Most of that shrimp comes from India, Indonesia, and Ecuador. In 2023, India alone sent 47 million pounds of shrimp to the United States. That's a lot of shrimp cocktails and shrimp scampi, not to mention the occasional prawn vindaloo.

Tariffs or no tariffs, the question becomes one of capacity: Were all foreign trade cut off, would the American shrimp industry be able to meet the demand? Prices would go up; how much, is the question. But the Louisiana Shrimp Association is hopeful.

Thomas Olander with the Louisiana Shrimp Association said a trade gap makes things worse.

"You can only go so far down. We feel like we've hit that mark," Thomas said. "We only have one way left to go now and that's back up."

Industry leaders say tariffs could be the key to their businesses staying afloat.

"We already getting reports that our shrimp prices are already starting to go up. So that was really good news that we heard in the last few weeks. The price of our product is going up," Thomas said. "All we've seen for the last 2 or 3 years, during this past administration, was a lower price."

Of course, the capacity question isn't limited to the industry but to the fisheries. Most Indian shrimp is farm-raised, not from commercial fisheries.

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And maybe that's the answer for American shrimpers. A conversion to shrimp farming, as opposed to the wild harvest, is already underway in the United States. That, not price protections for commercial fisheries, may be the ultimate answer. If the American shrimp farming industry can provide shrimp to American shoppers at a lower price without seasonable fluctuations... Well, the laws of economics won't be denied.

This seems appropriate.

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