History In 1991, archeologists suggested that ancient raised paved areas near the coast in
Chiapas, Mexico, were platforms used for drying shrimp in the sun, and that adjacent
clay hearths were used to dry the shrimp when there was no sun. The evidence was circumstantial, because the
chitinous shells of shrimp are so thin they degrade rapidly, leaving no fossil remains. In 1985 Quitmyer and others found direct evidence dating back to 600 AD for shrimping off the southeastern coast of North America, by successfully identifying shrimp from the archaeological remains of their
mandibles (jaws). In North America,
indigenous peoples of the Americas captured shrimp and other crustaceans in
fishing weirs and
traps made from branches and
Spanish moss, or used nets woven with fibre beaten from plants. At the same time early European settlers, oblivious to the "protein-rich coasts" all about them, starved from lack of protein. "For shrimp to develop into one of the world's most popular foods, it took the simultaneous development of the
otter trawl... and the internal combustion engine." In 1583, the Dutch banned shrimp trawling in estuaries. Diesel engines were adapted for use in shrimp boats in the 1920s.
Power winches were connected to the engines, and only small crews were needed to rapidly lift heavy nets on board and empty them. Shrimp boats became larger, faster, and more capable. New fishing grounds could be explored, trawls could be deployed in deeper offshore waters, and shrimp could be tracked and caught round the year, instead of seasonally as in earlier times. Larger boats trawled offshore and smaller boats worked bays and estuaries. By the 1960s, steel and fibreglass hulls further strengthened shrimp boats, so they could trawl heavier nets, and steady advances in electronics, radar, sonar, and GPS resulted in more sophisticated and capable shrimp fleets.
Trawl nets in general, and shrimp trawls in particular, have been identified as sources of mortality for species of
finfish and
cetaceans. Bycatch is often discarded dead or dying by the time it is returned to the sea, and may alter the ecological balance in discarded regions. Worldwide, shrimp trawl fisheries generate about 2% of the world's catch of fish in weight, but result in more than one third of the global bycatch total. The most extensively fished species are the
akiami paste shrimp, the
northern prawn, the
southern rough shrimp, and the
giant tiger prawn. Together these four species account for nearly half of the total wild capture. In recent years, the global capture of wild shrimp has been overtaken by the harvest from farmed shrimp. As can be seen from the global production chart on the left, significant aquaculture production started slowly in the 1970s and then rapidly expanded during the 1980s. After a lull in growth during the 1990s, due to pathogens, production took off again and by 2007 exceeded the capture from wild fisheries. By 2010, the aquaculture harvest was 3.9 million tonnes, compared to 3.1 million tonnes for the capture of wild shrimp. In 2000, global production was 630,984 tonnes, compared to only 146,362 tonnes for
whiteleg shrimp. Subsequently, these positions reversed, and by 2010 the production of giant tiger prawn increased modestly to 781,581 tonnes while whiteleg shrimp rocketed nearly twenty-fold to 2,720,929 tonnes. In China, prawns are cultured along with
sea cucumbers and some fish species, in
integrated multi-trophic systems. The major producer of farmed shrimp is China. Other significant producers are Thailand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Ecuador and Bangladesh. Most farmed shrimp is exported to the United States, the European Union and Japan, also other Asian markets, including South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
Greenpeace has challenged the sustainability of tropical shrimp farming practices on the grounds that farming these species "has led to the destruction of vast areas of
mangroves in several countries [and] over-fishing of juvenile shrimp from the wild to supply farms." Greenpeace has placed a number of the prominent tropical shrimp species that are farmed commercially on its seafood red list, including the
whiteleg shrimp,
Indian prawn and
giant tiger shrimp. There is also evidence that shrimps, like other crustaceans,
can feel pain. Common welfare concerns include water pollution, high population densities, and the spread of diseases. Additionally, many female shrimps
have their eyes cut without anesthetic in order to induce maturation of the ovaries.
As food Shrimp are
marketed and commercialized with several issues in mind. Most shrimp are sold frozen and marketed based on their categorization of presentation, grading, colour, and uniformity. Shrimp have high levels of
omega-3 fatty acids and low levels of
mercury. Usually shrimp is sold whole, though sometimes only the
meat of shrimp is marketed. As with other seafood, shrimp is high in
calcium,
iodine and
protein but low in
food energy. A shrimp-based meal is also a significant source of
cholesterol, from 122
mg to 251 mg per 100
g of shrimp, depending on the method of preparation. Shrimp consumption, however, is considered healthy for the circulatory system because the lack of significant levels of saturated fat in shrimp means that the high cholesterol content in shrimp improves the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol and lowers
triglycerides.
Ebiko - shrimp
roe, sometimes translated as "shrimp flakes" - is used as one of the ingredients in the preparation of
sushi. Shrimp and other
shellfish are among the most common
food allergens. They are not
kosher and thus are forbidden in
Jewish cuisine. Since the early 2020s,
plant-based and
cultured alternatives to shrimps have emerged and have been rapidly improving. Freshwater shrimp commonly available for aquaria include the
Bamboo shrimp,
Japanese marsh shrimp (
Caridina multidentata, also called "Amano shrimp," as their use in aquaria was pioneered by
Takashi Amano),
cherry shrimp (
Neocaridina heteropoda), and ghost or glass shrimp (
Palaemonetes spp.). Popular saltwater shrimp include the cleaner shrimp
Lysmata amboinensis, the fire shrimp (
Lysmata debelius) and the harlequin shrimp (
Hymenocera picta). == See also ==