Fifth Global Shrimp Forum Held in Utrecht; Farmed Shrimp Exports from Major Producing Countries Approached 3.8 Million Tonnes in 2025
From September 1 to 3, the Global Shrimp Forum (GSF) held its fifth annual meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with nearly 600 representatives from the global shrimp industry in attendance. Data disclosed at the event show that farmed shrimp exports from major producing countries in 2025 are estimated at close to 3.8 million tonnes, up nearly 4.5% year on year; European retail shrimp sales in 2025 totaled approximately 615,000 tonnes, up more than 11% year on year.
From Tuesday, September 1 to Thursday, September 3, the Global Shrimp Forum (GSF) held a three-day conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands, marking the fifth consecutive year the forum has been held. The forum is organized by an independent non-profit foundation registered in Utrecht, with a five-member board. According to Dutch fisheries media Visserijnieuws, this year's event attracted nearly 600 participants from all sides, including representatives of shrimp farming and fishing companies, processors, wholesalers, importers and exporters, supply industries, logistics and certification bodies, among them Dutch representatives.
One of the forum's founders, Willem van der Pijl, has owned the shrimp consultancy Shrimp Insights since 2020. He co-founded GSF with Esther Luiten of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and others, and serves as forum director. Other board members include Luiten and Johan Brouwer: Luiten has spent nearly 20 years in project development in the fields of markets, supply chains, innovation and certification; Brouwer has 25 years of experience in fisheries, having worked in sales at Marine Harvest and Seafood Connection and in business development at Veramaris, and is currently a director of the Belgian company Morubel (part of Canada's Cooke Seafood group). After the forum, Van der Pijl said he was satisfied with the three-day program, noting strong demand among participants for networking and knowledge exchange, and that attendance at the fifth-anniversary edition exceeded his expectations.
The conference covered sales volume and turnover data for the international shrimp market, responsible sourcing and trade across the supply chain, certification, product quality, safety and logistics, and for the first time included a session focused on women in the shrimp industry. The forum received support and sponsorship from a range of companies worldwide, with sponsors spanning farming companies, logistics firms, shrimp feed companies and exporters.
Trade data disclosed at the event show that global shrimp exports of all kinds are dominated by farmed shrimp, with Ecuador and India the main producers of large farmed shrimp. Over the past year, Ecuador's exports grew sharply by 16% and India's by more than 8%, while exports from Vietnam and Indonesia fell by 3% and 6% respectively. In 2025, major producing countries are estimated to have exported close to 3.8 million tonnes of farmed shrimp, up nearly 4.5% from the previous year.
On global demand, the forum's expectation is that global shrimp demand and production will grow significantly over the next 10 years. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates total growth of 47%, with total consumption estimated at about USD 75 billion in 2034 (USD 51 billion in 2025), an average annual increase of nearly 4.4%.
Important shrimp species in global trade include the tropical farmed species whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) and giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon). The species of greater importance in Europe and the northern hemisphere are generally wild-caught, including northern prawn (Pandalus borealis), Palaemon serratus (common prawn) and Crangon crangon (North Sea shrimp or grey shrimp).
In a session on the European retail market, the conference disclosed that about 615,000 tonnes of shrimp were sold in Europe in 2025, up more than 11% from 552,000 tonnes the previous year. In 2025, the share of farmed shrimp sold through European supermarket channels grew significantly, with sales volume up 21% compared with 2024, while sales volume of wild-caught shrimp fell 14%.
Crangon crangon (grey shrimp or North Sea shrimp), on which Dutch fishers as well as fishers in Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the United Kingdom depend, was barely mentioned in any session of the conference, and neither its export volume nor its consumption was addressed at the event; existing research shows that the export markets for this shrimp are mainly Belgium, France and Germany.