The Norwegian Fisheries Council (NSC) reports a nuanced picture for the country’s cold-water shrimp exports in 2023. Despite a 2% decrease in volume to 20,600 tons, the export value is set to rise by an impressive 8% to a record NOK 1.3 billion, reflecting a positive turn for the industry.

Last year, Sweden, England, and Iceland stood out as Norway’s primary consumers of cold-water shrimp. However, challenges persisted in the export of frozen cooked shrimp and meat, primarily due to the weakened Norwegian krone. The frozen peeled shrimp, constituting 60% of Norway’s cold-water shrimp export product structure, experienced a decline in both volume and value when denominated in euros.

The export value of frozen cooked shell shrimp witnessed a remarkable surge, soaring by an astounding 271%. This spike was attributed to the presence of shrimp processing lines on fishing boats in the Barents Sea, leading to increased output and export volume. The export of frozen cooked shell shrimp reached a volume of 4,400 tons, valued at 240 million USD. This growth was further fueled by rising consumption demand and prices in certain markets, with Ukraine emerging as Norway’s largest market for frozen nine-shell shrimp.

Notably, the export value of frozen nine-shell shrimp to Ukraine increased by NOK 70 million, a remarkable 452%, accompanied by a 329% surge in volume to 1,390 tons, in comparison to 2022.

The first half of 2023 witnessed a robust performance in the southern sea shrimp exploitation season, resulting in increased exports of fresh shell-on shrimp, surpassing NOK 14 million compared to the previous year. However, changes in the timing method for shrimp exploitation quotas in the North Sea and Skagerrak marked a significant shift. The new quota period, effective from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, resulted in a government-announced quota of 3,805 tons, reflecting a substantial decrease compared to the initially proposed 5,882 tons for the first half of 2023.