PORT ISABEL, Texas - The 2026-27 gulf shrimp season has begun but the conditions are not as good as they could be because of several factors impacting the industry.
The price of diesel is up compared to last year, fewer trawlers ventured out on Wednesday’s July 15 opening day in of the crustaceans and the new prices for shrimp aren’t there yet.
Several boat owners did not get enough H-2B visas required for people to come to the United States to work temporality, while others were left out with no choice but to find local people to go out for a month or longer during the corrida, or the run to catch as much shrimp as possible early.
Consequently, a squalid fleet of trawlers left from the Brownsville and Port Isabel Shrimp basins while many vessels stayed docked.
Among those impacted by the condition are Cuevas Trawlers, Don Paco Inc., Miss Fina, Cruzito Inc. and Sea Joker.
Guadalupe Ochoa, owner of 21 vessels, said he feels helpless about the new season.
“I did not get the people to work on my boats,” he said. “I cut down on the number of vessels by ten.”
Ochoa said he was able to find local people to out and he will be watching his expenses to determine if it’s worthy to keep his boats on the waters.
He said a boat uses between 15,000 and 20,000 gallons of diesel per trip and a gallon for the fuel costs today more than $4.
“How can you make it like that?’ he said. “We are part of a dying industry while new companies keep coming in.”
He mentioned the LNG terminal under construction and the oil refinery project that is now on the horizon.
Another company, called Port Alpha, Saronic’s next generation shipyard, has announced it has selected the Port of Brownsville to invest $3.2 billion in a new high-tech shipbuilding facility.
Ochoa said their industry is gradually dying while others keep taking over.
“When I came from Mexico in the ‘70s there were more than 600 trawlers,” he said. “There are less than 150 today.”
For Emigdio Cruz, the new season does not look promising.
“The boats I own did not go out,” he said. “I could not get the workers I needed. I am struggling to find people.”
