Louisiana shrimpers are seeking stronger trade enforcement and federal assistance as the domestic industry contracts, a campaign that has gained momentum from recent court rulings upholding duties on some imported shrimp. A petition carrying nearly 2,700 signatures calls for import restrictions and other aid, while Acy Cooper, a third-generation shrimper from Venice and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, has sought a meeting with President Donald Trump, Gov. Jeff Landry and other state officials.
“We just want a level playing field,” Cooper said, according to NOLA.com. The Louisiana Shrimp Association, which includes around 500 members, has organized a renewed campaign pressuring the federal government to limit imported seafood, and its petition lays out six demands, including more aggressive enforcement of trade laws and assistance for shrimpers harmed by cheap imports. Shrimpers and their families planned to gather with seafood industry participants at the St. Bernard Government Complex in Chalmette to build support for the push.
The frustration comes down to basic math on the docks. Imported shrimp now accounts for 87.2% of frozen shrimp sold in the United States by volume, per U.S. Court of International Trade filings cited in the same NOLA.com report, and that flood of cheap foreign product reduces demand for the domestic catch while keeping prices low. Cooper has pointed to surging diesel prices as another blow to shrimpers' bottom lines, even as the industry's biggest problem remains the import glut itself.
Courts Side With Domestic Shrimpers
The trade dispute reached a significant stage on September 4, when the U.S. Court of International Trade issued three rulings upholding International Trade Commission findings that subsidized frozen shrimp imports from Ecuador, India and Vietnam caused material injury to domestic shrimpers, according to Trade Law Daily. The decisions rejected appeals from seafood industry groups in those countries and left countervailing duties on the imports in place.
The same decision, Slip Op. 26-105, also knocked down a common counterargument: that rising fuel costs, not imports, were driving shrimpers' losses. The court noted that U.S. fishermen's fuel expenses actually dropped 21% between 2021 and 2023, even as dockside shrimp prices collapsed 42.6% over that stretch, with shrimpers' worst financial losses hitting in 2023 when fuel costs were down, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
Congress and the White House Line Up Behind the Fleet
The judicial wins follow a string of legislative moves in Louisiana's favor. The U.S. House passed the bipartisan Save Our Shrimpers Act in a 391-18 vote in May, and the bill now awaits consideration in the Senate. Rep. Julia Letlow, a Republican from Monroe, co-sponsored that bill along with the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act, which passed the House on July 20 to let the FDA destroy contaminated foreign seafood refused at U.S. ports instead of letting it be re-exported elsewhere.
Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat from New Orleans, co-sponsored both bills and backed the shrimp association's request to meet with Trump. “Our fishermen play a crucial role in Louisiana -- providing jobs, supporting coastal communities and ensuring a reliable domestic seafood supply,” Carter said. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, per spokesperson Olivia Morgan, secured House passage of both the legislation allowing destruction of contaminated imports and the bill prohibiting government funding for overseas shrimp companies, with Morgan saying the legislation prevents unsafe foreign shrimp from entering the U.S. market. Both measures now await Senate consideration.
The executive branch has moved in the same direction. Trump signed Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness,” in April 2025, directing the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to create an America First Seafood Strategy, and NOAA Fisheries followed on September 2 with a priority operational roadmap for regulatory reform, according to NOAA Fisheries. The Louisiana Shrimp Association has voiced support for that strategy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in August that it would purchase $20 million of wild-caught shrimp for nutrition assistance programs.
A Fleet Still Shrinking Despite the Wins
Even with courts, Congress, and the White House aligning behind their cause, Louisiana shrimpers are racing against a clock that has been running for decades. The state's active commercial shrimping fleet dropped 53% between 2000 and 2025, down to just 1,657 active fishermen, while statewide landings fell nearly 50% over the same period, from 147.4 million pounds down to 74.06 million pounds by 2021, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting. Younger generations, discouraged by thin margins, are largely not entering the industry.
The contraction shows up in local numbers too. Commercial shrimp harvests across coastal Louisiana declined nearly 30% in 2024, and the Calcasieu Basin saw a 50% drop to 750,000 pounds — half its ten-year average — driven by a shrinking fleet, depressed dockside prices, and surging operational costs, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries findings reported by Inside Climate News. Louisiana has led the nation in shrimp landings most years since 2000, per the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
A Broader Coastal Economy
The shrimp fleet is part of a larger coastal economy. According to NOAA Fisheries, Louisiana’s coastal wetlands provide habitat for fish and shellfish and support a statewide seafood industry valued at nearly $1 billion annually. NOAA’s Gulf fishery analysis also identified Louisiana communities among the region’s most reliant on commercial fishing, while noting that the measure was not specific to shrimp. The state’s exposure also reflects the country’s broader dependence on imported seafood. NOAA Fisheries reported that the United States imported 6.3 billion pounds of edible seafood products in 2023, compared with 2.5 billion pounds of exports. Those figures put the shrimpers’ dispute in the context of a seafood market that extends beyond boat counts and includes coastal habitat, fishing-dependent communities and processing and supply networks.
Enforcement Widens on Multiple Fronts
Beyond tariffs, the debate also includes how foreign shrimp is sold to consumers.
Federal trade enforcement is also widening. The U.S. Department of Commerce launched extensive administrative reviews in 2026 covering more than 1,000 foreign seafood exporters across India, Vietnam, Thailand, and China to determine updated antidumping and countervailing duty rates, a process that could push tariffs even higher on imported shrimp.
For Cooper, the stack of court rulings, new laws, and executive actions represents real momentum, but he is clear-eyed about where the industry stands today. He has said the domestic shrimping industry can recover, even as he acknowledges it is not sustainable right now, and he wants Trump to look directly at what shrimpers like him are facing. Whether that meeting happens remains to be seen, but Cooper and the roughly 500 members of the Louisiana Shrimp Association are pressing their case while the fleet keeps shrinking.
