Much of the Texas ag industry was devastated by the recent freeze, but not all sectors.
It is too early to tell and there is no full damage assessment, but it would appear that Texas shrimpers made it through the big freeze unscathed.
According to Andrea Hance with the Texas Shrimp Association, “Shrimp are extremely tolerant to water temperature changes, and, of course, that goes into what time of year it is because of the way they migrate.”
She says that there are reasons there will be plenty of shrimp to catch after the freeze.
“The majority of the shrimp right now, they’re actually inside the estuaries, and we’ve seen over the last 20, 30, 40 years since they’ve been keeping track, that the cold water temperatures, the majority of the shrimp, as long as they can go in and bury themselves in safe, healthy estuaries, then it typically does not affect us,” she explains.
Even though there are still shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico, there was a slight setback for the shrimpers.
“It’s affected us a little bit in terms of our industry having to come in and tie up for a week, because they’re not going to go out in freezing temperatures, and then they didn’t have the groceries to go out for another day or so,” she adds.
She goes on to say that Texas still leads the way for shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico.
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