PORT SULPHUR — Acy Cooper, a Gulf shrimper since age 15, has stopped shrimping full-time as of 2026 and now ferries oil rig workers in the Gulf. Rising diesel costs, falling shrimp prices, and competition from imported seafood have made it impossible for him to sustain his livelihood solely through shrimping.

Diesel prices rose from approximately $3.50 per gallon to more than $5 per gallon between late 2025 and spring 2026. Large offshore freezer boats in the Gulf use between 9,000 and 12,000 gallons of diesel on a single 30-day trip, and one Alabama shrimper reported spending $47,000 on fuel before leaving the dock in 2026—$20,000 more than the previous year.

To break even, Cooper needs to catch at least 1,000 pounds of shrimp per trip, but environmental challenges have reduced yields. A cold front in May 2026 pushed shrimp out to open water, and coastal erosion has eliminated marshland that previously sheltered shrimp.

Imported shrimp, mostly farm-raised from countries like India and Ecuador, accounted for more than 90 percent of U.S. shrimp consumption by 2023, according to a NOAA report. The U.S. Gulf shrimp fleet’s share of the domestic market declined from nearly 30 percent in 1984 to 4.5 percent in 2023. Adjusted for inflation, Gulf shrimp dockside prices fell from over $6 per pound in the early 1980s to under $2 per pound in 2023, an all-time low. Gulf shrimp revenue declined from $489 million in 2021 to $221 million in 2023.

The number of shrimpers in Louisiana declined from nearly 20,000 in the mid-1980s to fewer than 1,400 by 2026. "You can't make enough money during this shrimp season in order to make it all here. So we have to supplement our way of life," Cooper said.

Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents commercial shrimpers from North Carolina to Texas, said, "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." He added, "We're not asking for checks or a payout. We just want a level playing field."

The Save Our Shrimpers Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is awaiting action in the Senate. The legislation would prohibit U.S. taxpayer dollars from subsidizing foreign shrimp aquaculture operations that compete with American fishermen.