Sustainability

Seafood Sustainability

Cox's Wholesale Seafood has been a leader in the conservation and sustainability of all species of shrimp harvested in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Ocean for over three decades. This is most evident in Florida where Key West Pink shrimp is one of the states most prized resources. We support all efforts to ban trawling in protected areas where juvenile shrimp live and grow and work closely with the trade associations that established the 3,000,000 acre sanctuary which is home to the smaller shrimp that will become next years crop.
 
Cox's has been a full time subscriber to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s voluntary USDC Seafood Inspection Program for over 20 years. NMFS partners with Ocean Trust in their conservation initiatives.
 
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and Cox's have collaborated on the Fishery Improvement Projects (FIP) for Key West Pink Shrimp and Texas Gulf Shrimp. These on-going projects are paving the way towards sustainability of Key West Pinks, Texas Browns, as well as other Gulf and South Atlantic Shrimp species Cox’s procures for our retail partners.
 
We are a member of Ocean Trust one of the few organizations that concentrates on habitat restoration and marine conservation.    
 
Also a member of National Fisheries Institute, we support their effort to aid in marine conservation as they partner with Ocean Trust & and other initiatives.
 
We also partner with Trace Register and Gulf Seafood Trace which tracks the origin of domestic seafood.
 
Important Points
 
  • State of Florida created a “sanctuary” area called the Tortugas National Shrimp Sanctuary consisting of 3,000,000 acres. Commercial shrimping is illegal in this area.
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  • Allows juvenile shrimp the opportunity to grow before migrating to the shrimping grounds.
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  • Ensures the shrimp one spawning cycle before migrating offshore thus guaranteeing a thriving biomass for generations to come.
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  • Annual crop.
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  • Fast growing species.
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  • Each female lays as many as 800,000 eggs.
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  • Key West Pink fishery designated sustainable by Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. 
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