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Americans Consume One Billion Pounds Of Shrimp Annually

shrimp day

Observed annually on May 10, it is National Shrimp Day.  Americans eat more shrimp than any other seafood, and this is the day to celebrate this delicious seafood.

The word “prawn” is used loosely to describe any large shrimp, sometimes known as “jumbo shrimp.”  Some countries use the word “prawn” exclusively for all shrimp.

A healthy food, shrimp is low in calories and high in levels of omega-3, calcium, iodine, and protein.  Shrimp is also known to be considered good for the circulatory system.

 Popular North America Shrimp Dishes:
  • Seafood Gumbo:  A stew or soup that probably originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century.  Seafood gumbo typically consists of a strongly flavored stock, shrimp and crab meat (sometimes oysters), a thickener, and seasoning vegetables.  Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used:  okra, the Choctaw spice, file powder (dried and ground sassafras leaves), or roux, the French base made of flour and fat.
  • Shrimp Cocktail:  The Golden Gate was the first to serve this .50 cent shrimp cocktail in 1959.  It is now a Las Vegas cliché.  Called the “Original Shrimp Cocktail” on the menu, it is a favorite among tourists as well as the locals.  The original Shrimp Cocktail consists of a regular-sized sundae glass filled with small salad shrimp and topped with a dollop of cocktail sauce.
  • Shrimp DeJonghe:  A specialty of Chicago, it is a casserole of whole, peeled shrimp blanketed in soft, garlic, sherry-laced bread crumbs. It is served as an appetizer or a main course. It originated in the late 19th or early 20th century at the DeJonghe’s Hotel and Restaurant.
  • Shrimp Scampi: This dish has its own day on April 29 and is cooked in butter, garlic, lemon juice and white wine.
  • One billion pounds of shrimp are eaten every year by Americans.
  • The average American consumes 4.0 lbs. of shrimp annually. Comparatively, this is out of 15.5 pounds of seafood people in the United States eat each year. Shrimp consumption is followed by salmon (2.3 pounds) and canned tuna (2.3 pounds)
  • Over five billion pounds of shrimp are produced every single year.
  • A shrimp can average about 6 inches while the longest ever found was at 16 inches.
  • Ever wonder what shrimp eat? Most shrimp are omnivorous, but some are specialized for particular modes of feeding.
  • Some shrimp can live as long as six and a half years, while some only live about a year or so.
  • There are 16 different stages of life are found in shrimp from egg to full adult.
  • There are over 128 species of shrimp.
  • Every shrimp is actually born a male and then become females as they mature.
  • The average shrimp has 10 legs.
  • The name for raw, uncooked shrimp is “green”.
  • Shrimp that has been broiled or sautéed, usually in butter and garlic are called “scampi”.
  • Shrimp can be noisy! Several  species of shrimp can make a snapping sound that is louder than any other marine noise by hitting their large and small pincers together. The noise is loud enough to stun or even kill some small fish!
  • Navy submarines sometimes hide in beds of snapping shrimp to disguise their location from sonar detection.
  • A shrimp’s heart is located in its head!
  • Of the nearly 2,000 shrimp species, fewer than 20 are commercially harvested. That doesn’t sound too bad, but check this out: It is estimated that shrimp trawling, also known as “bulldozing the ocean,” destroys four pounds of incidental bycatch for every pound of shrimp taken. In the southeastern U.S., shrimp trawling kills as many as 50,000 turtles every year.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Mobile-Cuisine

Buy American Shrimp

Sport Diver

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