ABSTRACTIn ice stored shrimp,Vibrio, Pseudomonasand/orMoraxella‐Acineto‐batterspecies were initially dombant. After 12–15 days,Vibriosp. had disappeared andPseudomonassp. predominated followed byMoraxella‐Acinetobactersp. The mean increase in aerobic plate count over this period was 2.2–2.4 log. In the melting ice (drip)Moraxella‐Acine‐tobacter, Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Vibrio, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, Alcaligenesand yeasts were present initially. After 9–13 days,Vibrio, FlavobacteriumandMicrococcussp. could not be detected in the drip, whereasPseudomonasorMoraxella‐Acinetobactersp. remained present or in some cases increased. The mean increase in bacterial count of the drip was 3.4 Jog. Considering the loss in TVN in the drip, there was a net increase in TVN ranging from 6.7–60.1 mg N/100g. AA‐N levels in shrimp decreased during storage. The TVN‐AA‐N ratio of drip did not increase significantly until bacterial leve