Shrimp - Farm Raised vs Wild Caught

[Sarah in SC]

Don't want to gloat but I can see the shrimp boats from my front porch here in southern South Carolina. There is nothing like fresh caught wild shrimp.

This has been my entire life. I can head shrimp faster than most people I know, DH once brought me home 50 pounds to head and freeze from a guy he know on the docks. I just about killed him, but we ate good for months. Here's some boats out of Shem Creek.

 

[walkinwood]

Is there a "season" for wild-caught fresh shrimp? I want to keep that in mind for our next trip to shrimp fishing areas.

 

[NW-Bound]

Is there a "season" for wild-caught fresh shrimp?

Can one tell the difference between fresh shrimp and frozen shrimp, I wonder? Never have fresh shrimp myself.

 

[Sarah in SC]

This might be interesting to you, regarding the season for commercial catch:

The commercial shrimp trawling fishery has three basic seasons. The first is the so-called roe shrimp season in May or June.This season is opened when management biologists determine that an adequate supply of eggs has been spawned. The roe shrimp season is usually less than a month in duration and landings are dependent upon the severity of the previous winter. Following mild winters, heads-off landings are often 400 to 600 thousand pounds. Following severe winters, landings of roe shrimp are usually less than 50 thousand pounds and often zero.

The second season is for brown shrimp. This fishery usually begins in June and ends in August, although significant quantities of brown shrimp have been landed in October when stock abundance was very high. Good years for brown shrimp have landings of 1.3 to 2.0 million pounds (heads off).

The fall white shrimp season is typically the largest except in years following severe winters. These shrimp are the offspring of the spring spawn. Landings of youngof- the-year white shrimp by the commercial fleet usually begin in August and peak in September and October. The season usually lasts through December and into January in some years.

SCDNR - Shrimp

 

[walkinwood]

Thanks Sarah.
We were thinking of a road trip in early february to take a break from the long Colorado winter - maybe to the gulf coast. But - wrong time for fresh shrimp, but I'll remember it for future trips.

NW-Bound - not sure I can tell the difference, but I'd like to try. I ate fresh shrimp in abundance as a kid, but that was too long ago to remember the taste.

 

[Sarah in SC]

walkin, that is the season for East Coast (South Carolina), so it may be different on the gulf side. I have no idea how their shrimp season works, I only know that our oysters are AMAZINGLY better than gulf ones.
And are in season in February, as a month with an "r" in it.

 

[W2R]

walkin, that is the season for East Coast (South Carolina), so it may be different on the gulf side. I have no idea how their shrimp season works, I only know that our oysters are AMAZINGLY better than gulf ones.
And are in season in February, as a month with an "r" in it.

Restaurants here have shrimp all year-round. Prices for fresh local shrimp may be higher off season at the grocery store, but shrimp freeze well. You won't notice any difference at restaurants. Shrimp are caught fresh here from April through February but I wouldn't hesitate to order shrimp at a restaurant during any time of the year.

Sarah, I'll give you oysters (I don't eat oysters that much except in gumbo and can't tell) but Louisiana shrimp are just amazing and so plentiful everywhere here.

 

[NW-Bound]

I would like to be able to serve those gigantic shrimp that weigh 1/2 lb to 1 lb. Casually put them "on the barbie" and comment to my guests that "yes, these are wild caught too".

Can one eat a 1-lb shrimp? I think it would give me an indigestion. Perhaps share it with my wife? But she cannot eat even 1/2 lb.

And here, they say a tiger shrimp can be more than a foot long and weigh 1-1/2 lb! They do not grow this big in Asia, do they? Why they get so large here?

 

[HFWR]

No shrimper here, but I think nearly all shrimp is "frozen" in some manner while on the boat...

 

[tmm99]

And yes I realize some of you are scratching your head wondering who cares!

Actually this kind of thing is a life or death situation for me. I cannot tolerate a certain class of antibiotics. These antibiotics are used heavily in the raising of food animals. If I eat an animal that's been given these drugs I could react to it and croak. No dessert.

Any animals I eat have to be either organic or certified as having been raised without the use of antibiotics. And I don't just trust he label. I have to check out the supplier.

Seafood except for tuna and sardines are pretty much off my eatin' list because I cannot trust what I'm getting

What did you used to do before they didn't have to list anything (in regards to organic vs. conventionally grown)? Just curious. I have a friend who is allergic to varieties of antibiotics, but she seems to be OK with any food.

 

[Sarah in SC]

No shrimper here, but I think nearly all shrimp is "frozen" in some manner while on the boat...

They usually put it on ice, in layers, in the hold of the shrimp boat, but it is more like refrigeration than freezing. It doesn't take that long to get back to the docks here, so not like when the fishing boats go out longlining or something, and they have to put them in colder storage.

But yeah, you can freeze fresh shrimp with no damage to the taste, I think.

 

[NW-Bound]

All this talk about shrimp just drives me insane!

We often just steam the shrimp in shell, with it in a dish instead of boiling so that the water does not dilute out all that shrimpiness goodness. Then, we just eat it with our fingers, peeling it and dipping it in lemon juice with salt and pepper.

But right now, what I am thinking is shrimp curry served over rice. And that's next on my plate. It should look like this photo linked from FoodTV. I am salivating already.

 

[walkinwood]

All this talk about shrimp just drives me insane!

We often just steam the shrimp in shell, with it in a dish instead of boiling so that the water does not dilute out all that shrimpiness goodness. Then, we just eat it with our fingers, peeling it and dipping it in lemon juice with salt and pepper.

But right now, what I am thinking is shrimp curry served over rice. And that's next on my plate. It should look like this photo linked from FoodTV. I am salivating already.

Got to me too! I'm making shrimp in a lemon butter sauce over pasta.

I love shrimp curry - especially a coconut curry.. ah... now, I'm going to have to make that later this week.

 

[NW-Bound]

Just to think one can get such simple pleasures in life without having to spend a whole lot.

And yes, I enjoy cooking food just as much as eating it.

 

[48Fire]

Shrimpin' for your own shrimp is fun too!

 

[audreyh1]

Can one tell the difference between fresh shrimp and frozen shrimp, I wonder? Never have fresh shrimp myself.

Properly frozen - just as good.

 

[audreyh1]

They usually put it on ice, in layers, in the hold of the shrimp boat, but it is more like refrigeration than freezing. It doesn't take that long to get back to the docks here, so not like when the fishing boats go out longlining or something, and they have to put them in colder storage.

But yeah, you can freeze fresh shrimp with no damage to the taste, I think.

+1

The fresh shrimp here has never been frozen.

But I never turn up my nose at frozen shrimp, it's perfectly fine.

I can tell when the gulf brown has been frozen because it turns more of a pink color, but it doesn't seem to affect the taste.

 

[audreyh1]

Is there a "season" for wild-caught fresh shrimp? I want to keep that in mind for our next trip to shrimp fishing areas.

Most of the year here. Off season is for about 6 weeks or so June/July.

I never worry about the season - I just buy local shrimp when it's available.

Restaurants overwhelmingly serve imported shrimp because it's so much cheaper. A few places on the coast specify they are serving gulf shrimp.

 

[donheff]

Got to me too! I'm making shrimp in a lemon butter sauce over pasta.

I love shrimp curry - especially a coconut curry.. ah... now, I'm going to have to make that later this week.

Darn you guys. I am limiting pasta and rice but now you have me salivating for a shrimp curry - at 7:00 AM!

 

[MichaelB]

Darn you guys. I am limiting pasta and rice but now you have me salivating for a shrimp curry - at 7:00 AM!

+1

 

[W2R]

Restaurants overwhelmingly serve imported shrimp because it's so much cheaper.

Wow, not here (except for chain restaurants, I suppose, but I don't know anyone who would ever go to chain restaurants here). Restaurants wouldn't last long here if they did that. But then, apparently the restaurant business is a lot more competitive here in New Orleans than in most places.

Some restaurants here have fresh seafood delivered by truck straight from the fishing boats, but most send someone to pick through the seafood themselves as it comes off the boats. The best restaurants have the best contacts for seafood.

 

[HFWR]

+1

The fresh shrimp here has never been frozen.

But I never turn up my nose at frozen shrimp, it's perfectly fine.

I can tell when the gulf brown has been frozen because it turns more of a pink color, but it doesn't seem to affect the taste.

I guess my point is that shrimp will go bad very quickly, and anything that won't be eaten within a very short period of time is flash frozen.

 

[Midpack]

Wow, not here (except for chain restaurants, I suppose, but I don't know anyone who would ever go to chain restaurants here). Restaurants wouldn't last long here if they did that. But then, apparently the restaurant business is a lot more competitive here in New Orleans than in most places.

Up near Chicago we pay double for wild caught, whereas earlier posts above suggest those of you in the Gulf states pay about the same for wild caught Gulf shrimp that we have to pay for imported farm raised. Presumably the same would apply to restaurants.

I'd guess the ready availability and (much lower or non-existent) premium for local shrimp vs imported in NOLA is less than most other cities (making it much easier to source shrimp locally) - not that the restaurant business is a lot more competitive in NOLA. The restaurant business is incredibly competitive in most major cities if not most places IME.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, not here (except for chain restaurants, I suppose, but I don't know anyone who would ever go to chain restaurants here). Restaurants wouldn't last long here if they did that. But then, apparently the restaurant business is a lot more competitive here in New Orleans than in most places.

Some restaurants here have fresh seafood delivered by truck straight from the fishing boats, but most send someone to pick through the seafood themselves as it comes off the boats. The best restaurants have the best contacts for seafood.

In my experience, folks in Southern LA are much more discerning and demanding about their restaurant seafood than the rest of the south. It's one of the reasons we love to visit restaurants there! This is an exception, believe me!

Are you sure all your crawfish for your stews is from LA though? The US imports a huge amount from China and I find it very difficult to find LA crawfish.

 

[NW-Bound]

Got to me too! I'm making shrimp in a lemon butter sauce over pasta.

Next time I make shrimp pasta, I am going to put in a bit of capers. This should bring an entirely new flavor to the dish, a new trick I recently learned.

Darn you guys. I am limiting pasta and rice but now you have me salivating for a shrimp curry - at 7:00 AM!

Can you make the dish this way?

Do not use too much salt on the shrimp, then when you are done, sprinkle some grains of rice on top? Instead of shrimp over rice, it's rice over shrimp?