The statistics on the shrimp fisheries abroad included in 

 Special Scientific Report - Fisheries No. 235 and No. 25ii indicate (1) 

 that the possibilities of substantially boosting production in the 

 countries — ffexico and the other Latin American countries — which in 

 the past have furnished the bulk of our imports are limited, and (2) that 

 some of the fisheries in distant lands, especially in India, have not 

 yet reached the limits of their potential. The success of making up 

 domestic supply deficits will depend on whether enough shrimp of a quality 

 and at a price acceptable to the American consumer can be imported. 



While supply places an upper limit on future consumption, there 

 seems to be little doubt that the requirements of the domestic market in 

 1975 will be substantially above the 339 million pounds (heads-on) of 

 shrimp consumed in 1955i. Assuming that current growth rates are main- 

 tained and that per capita consumption remains stable, population growth 

 alone would raise supply requirements to the k^O million pound level. 



There is reason to believe that per capita consumption will 

 increase though at a considerably slower rate. 



Harden Taylor (1951) comparing the markedly different economic 

 conditions affecting the consumption of oysters and shrimp points out 

 some of the factors stimulating the demand for shrimp: 



"When judged by all the standards of measurement of a species 

 that we have, the shrimp appears to have many advantages: being a luxury 

 delicacy item, its price is not determined by bare competition as a staple 

 item of food; it is easily subject to economical mass capture; its net 

 edible portion is a high percentage of the total weight; it requires lit- 

 tle in the way of preparation for market and that not expensive; it is 

 well adapted to canning and freezing, as well as to the fresh fish market; 

 it can be prepared for the table in many ways ..." 



The palatability of the frozen product accounts for the fact 

 that shrimp was one of the species that benefited most during the last 

 three decades from the development of frozen food processing, /s a 

 result, shrimp was introduced in many markets where it was previously 

 unknown. 



An indication of the spread in the area of distribution of 

 shrimp products can be obtained on the basis of a study by the United 

 States Fish and Wildlife Service of the sales patterns of fishery pro- 

 ducts in the more important consumption centers of this country. This 

 study was first undertaken in 1936 and repeated in 19U6. 12/ The results 

 of the survey indicated that shrimp products in I9I46 were much more 



12/ Kahn, R. A. and Stolting, W. H., Sales Patterns for Fresh and Frozen 

 Fish and Shellfish 1936 and 19ii6 , Fishery Leaflet 365, Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, United States Department of the Interior, 1949. 



112 



