Rio Grande Valley shrimpers and the Texas Shrimp Association are asking the Trump administration to approve more temporary work visas before the July shrimping season begins, warning that some boats may not make it out to sea without more crew members.

Alberto Ochoa operates more than 21 boats out of South Texas and says the industry is facing major challenges, including being short-handed. 

“Nobody wants to do this industry anymore; we are a dying industry right now,” Ochoa said.

The job can keep workers at sea for 30 to 45 days at a time, making it difficult to find people willing to do the work.

Many companies rely on H-2B temporary work visas to bring in workers from across the border. 

“With the help of the H-2B visas, we can get experienced workers to come and help us out,” Ochoa said, adding that they are currently short on those visas.

Without those workers, Ochoa says some boats may not have enough crew members to head out at the start of the July shrimping season. 

“What ends up happening is I’ll end up getting two captains and two rigmen to go on one boat, and they basically have to split their salary between them,” Ochoa said.

Texas Shrimp Association Executive Director Maria Jaross says there is a shortage of 120 visas for the vessels, which works out to two per boat and about 60 vessels impacted.

She says a full crew is four people, so being short two is significant. She also says a total of 300 visas are used between the Port of Brownsville and Port Isabel, and 66,000 of these visas are approved yearly across the country.

Rising fuel costs are adding to the pressure. Jaross says the price of diesel fuel has gone from roughly $2 a gallon to $4 a gallon.

“So if you multiply the price of fuel, $4 times 18,000 gallons of fuel, it’s quite a big sum,” Jaross said.

Ochoa says more than 100 boats are currently docked in the area because some business owners can't afford to send ships out to sea.

The Texas Shrimp Association says it has reached out to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez to see what congressional leaders can do to bring more visas into this year's program.

The association says the visas need to be approved before the July 15, 2026, shrimp season begins.

Watch the video above for the full story.