PORT ISABEL, Texas (RFD News) — Texas shrimpers say labor shortages continue to put pressure on the industry, with some operations now calling for additional H-2B visas to help fill workforce gaps.
The Texas Shrimp Association says the industry needs more than 100 additional H-2B visas this year. The temporary work visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers for nonagricultural jobs when there are not enough available U.S. workers to fill those positions.
Shrimpers say the program has played an important role in the Gulf industry for decades. Alberto Ochoa with Ochoa Trawlers says shrimpers are competing for workers against several other industries that also rely on H-2B labor.
“We are basically fighting for workers with people in the in lawn care, hotel space, cleaning services. Basically, we don’t belong in that division, we are food production. So we need to be able to be placed in an H2A Visas because that has no cap, that’s mostly given to people in agriculture, farming.”
Ochoa says many of the workers coming from Mexico already have years of experience in the shrimping industry and understand the demands of the job.
“These Mexican workers have been experienced workers. They know what they’re doing. They fish over there in Mexico that they’ve been doing it their whole lives over there in Tampico. Some of them are born and raised in the industry here in the area. Shrimping is a dying industry. People are not looking into it.”
Maria Barrera-Jaross with the Texas Shrimp Association says protecting the shrimp industry is also about preserving an important part of Texas culture and coastal communities.
“The Texas shrimp industry is so vital to the state of Texas. It’s comprised of people who have been shrimping their whole lives. It’s a legacy occupation, there’s a lot of pride and history that comes with the shrimping industry and if we don’t do something to protect the Texas shrimp industry and the industry as a whole in the United States we’re all going to get stuck eating imported shrimp from countries halfway across the world.”
The Texas Shrimp Association reports that less than one percent of imported shrimp is inspected by the Food and Drug Administration.
South Texas shrimpers gathered in Port Isabel last week to discuss ongoing labor shortages and concerns surrounding the H-2B visa program.
Port Isabel City Manager Jared Hockema says foreign workers remain an important part of keeping shrimping operations running.
“These are people here temporarily, and they’re people that have worked for many years in the same same job. It’s a specialized job. It’s not a job that somebody would want to come do with bad intentions. It’s a tough job. So it has to be somebody that really wants to support their family and contribute to their their society, but also to our economy.”
Meeting organizers also emphasized the amount of federal oversight involved in the H-2B process, saying workers go through extensive background checks and review through the Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the State Department before entering the country.
Industry leaders say many of the workers return year after year and are relied upon because of the experience and specialized skills needed in the shrimping industry.
