Argentine Red Shrimp

Argentine red shrimp (Pleoticus Muelleri) has a sweet delicate flavor similar to that of Maine lobster. The primary packs are whole head-on, headless shell-on, EZ peel, peeled and deveined and peeled tail on. The popularity of this shrimp is quickly growing in North America. Historically the markets have been in Europe, primarily Spain and Italy, as well as Japan and China. The shrimp is wild harvested off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic. There are two fisheries which are frozen on board and land frozen.

This is a very delicate shrimp and great care must be taken during processing ensure the best quality. Be very careful as to who you buy from as quality varies greatly among the different packers.

A photograph of a Argentine red shrimp fishing vessel with its booms out getting ready to launch its nets.

Frozen on board Argentine Red Shrimp

Shrimp are processed immediately upon capture in the frozen on board fishery. The shrimp upon removal from the net goes down a chute to the processing area. The shrimp is then graded to size, packed into cartons and then quickly frozen in plate freezers. The end result of this process is the best sashimi grade shrimp.

Chubut province waters: May to June
Santa Cruz province waters: April to June
National waters: Mid May to November

Land Frozen Argentine Red Shrimp

Land frozen shrimp are caught by day boats and processed in plants on the shore. When the vessels return to port the shrimp are loaded onto trucks and delivered to processing plants where they are immediately packed as whole shrimp or processed into other forms.

Chubut province waters: November to February In this fishery they produce excellent quality shrimp with excellent color, texture, flavor and have a large average size. The shrimp usually contain roe as they spawn during this time.
National waters: End of June to October in general it is good in size and does not have roe. Since it takes longer to get the shrimp to shore to process so the heads are softer. For this reason they primarily process headless product with this shrimp.