Fans of coctel de camaron are having to dig deeper into their pockets these days.
Shrimp prices have skyrocketed to an historic high in Mexico, largely due to a disease that’s plagued the three largest prawn producers: Thailand, China and Vietnam.
The price of shrimp has increased 57 percent between April 2013 and April 2014. The shrimp shortage is one of the worst in recent history, according to international analysts. In Thailand alone, shrimp production has fallen 40 percent in the past five years. Cultivators in Mexico – an important shrimp supplier – export far more shrimp than the country imports but the current crisis has also affected their business.
Shrimp exports dropped 30 percent from 2012 to 2013, down from 26,292 tons to 18,486 tons. The increase in the price of shrimp, however, saw earnings jump by three percent.
In April last year, Mexican agriculture authorities suspended imports of shrimp that are live, raw, cooked, dehydrated or “in any presentation,” the tiger (Penaeus monodon) and white (Litopenaeus vannamei) species from China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam because of the disease, known as early mortality syndrome or EMS.
Some experts said the move was unnecessary because only live shrimp should be banned from countries suffering from the disease.
The bacterial infection is deadly to shrimp but poses no significant threat to human health, according to the United Nations.