In recent years, researchers and policy makers have focused their attention on the economic state of the US domestic shrimp industry.1 The dominance of cheap shrimp imports in the US market has led to lower prices for shrimp despite increasing percapita consumption by US consumers. Indirectly, this has affected the price received by wild shrimp harvesters in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic states of the US. The surge in the volume of imports in the last 20 years led to calls to investigate possible dumping in the imported shrimp market. Domestic producers identified 6 (Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam) of the biggest exporters of shrimp to the US and filed an antidumping complaint before the Commerce department (US ITC, 2005). The decision by the ITC resulted in antidumping duties for the named countries. Despite the victory by domestic producers, it is not clear if prices will stay high long enough to
keep US shrimp producers financially healthy. Other exporting countries may increase their production and takeover possible reduced quantities shipped from 6 countries and this would keep the pressure on shrimp prices to remain low as in the case of salmon (Asche, 2001). In the absence of a clear indication that consumers are willing to pay a premium for domestic shrimp over imported shrimp, it is important to look at other ways domestic producers can compete against imported shrimp. The antidumping duties imposed by the ITC are not permanent and are subject to re-evaluation after some time and may even be lifted as soon as countries penalized comply with conditions. In a market dominated by low-cost exporters, it is important to examine the production side of the domestic shrimp industry and look at margins where they can improve and increase their economic viability. This study is the first attempt to measure the production efficiency of South Carolina shrimp boat operators.