Sustainable shrimp buying guide

Shrimp rated green by Seafood Watch is the most environmentally sustainable. When wild shrimp is rated green, it means it comes from a healthy population, and the well-managed fishery has little to no impact on other marine life or habitat. Farmed shrimp and prawns are rated green when producers have minimal impacts on wild species and the environment.

Wild-caught shrimp rated yellow usually means the fishery also catches other overexploited species, or there isn’t enough information about bycatch impacts. In some fisheries, the targeted shrimp population is okay, and bycatch isn’t a significant concern, but the fishery is poorly managed. When farmed shrimp and prawns are rated yellow, this means there’s significant uncertainty about impacts on wildlife and the environment, or there’s one issue that needs substantial improvement.

Shrimp rated red by Seafood Watch is not environmentally sustainable. For wild shrimp, it means the fishery catches shrimp from an overexploited population, bycatch of other marine life is a significant problem, fishery management is considered ineffective, or a combination of these issues. When farmed shrimp and prawns are rated red, it means there are serious concerns about two or more of the following issues:

• Ecologically important habitats are being converted to shrimp farms, regulations to protect habitats are not enforced, or both. Learn more about fish farming’s impacts on habitats.
  Chemical use to control diseases is too high, information about chemical use is lacking, banned substances are used, or a combination of these issues. Learn more about antibiotic use in aquaculture.
• Farm waste from shrimp ponds pollutes the waterways when intentionally or accidentally released. Learn more about the impacts of fish farming pollution.
• Too many farmed shrimp and prawns are escaping into the wild. When this happens, they can spread disease to wild species. Learn more about escapes.
• Broodstock is captured from wild, overexploited populations. This practice can be highly destructive in wild shrimp nursery grounds and result in extremely high bycatch of other species. Another issue may be that the feed has marine-based ingredients from unsustainable or unknown sources. Learn more about the use of wild fish in aquaculture.

Learn how we can make seafood sustainable

Fishing methods

Various fishing gears are used to catch shrimp, and some are more prone to accidentally capturing other marine life. Bottom trawls, skimmer trawls, and gillnets tend to have a greater risk of bycatch. However, in well-managed fisheries, a variety of measures can greatly reduce the amount of bycatch, even when these methods are used. Shrimp are also caught with cast nets, pots/traps, and suriperas. These more selective methods tend to have fewer bycatch impacts.

Here’s a quick look at the main fishing methods used to catch shrimp:

• Bottom trawls herd shrimp into a cone-shaped net as they’re dragged along the seafloor.
• Cast nets are circular nets that are cast flat on the water and sink to capture shrimp. Small-scale, artisanal fishermen use this fishing method.
• Gillnets entangle shrimp when they swim into the netting.
• Pots and traps are cage-like gears with one or more openings that shrimp can easily enter but are difficult to exit.
• Skimmer trawls are used to catch shrimp in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. As the nets are pushed through shallow, nearshore waters, a device disturbs the shrimp, causing them to rise in the water column so they can be captured.
• Suriperas are attached to small boats called pangas, which drift with the tide to capture shrimp. Small-scale, artisanal fishermen use this fishing method.

Farming methods

• Most shrimp are farmed in ponds, which are natural or built bodies of fresh or saltwater. There are many types, from simple low-tech ponds to hyper-intensive industrial ponds. For example, shrimp is farmed in rice-shrimp, shrimp-mangrove, extensive ponds, and intensive farms in Vietnam. Large-scale escape events can occur when shrimp ponds are located in areas vulnerable to flooding. Also, if untreated pond water is released into nearby waterways, harmful environmental and wildlife impacts can be significant.
• Shrimp and prawns are also farmed in indoor recirculating tanks, but this method represents only a small portion of what’s available on the U.S. market compared to other farming systems. These systems continuously recirculate more than 90 percent of the water flow, and they’re rated green or yellow, depending on producers’ wastewater treatment practices. This farming method is also referred to as RAS (short for recirculating aquaculture systems), land-based, or tank-farmed, with variations of these terms sometimes used.

Learn more about fishing and farming methods