A systematic study along the Mexican continental slope (300-1200 m depth) of the Gulf of Mexico was conducted on board the R/V JUSTO SIERRA of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, to study crustacean biodiversity and potential fishery resources. Sampling was carried with a shrimp trawling net (18 m mouth and 4.5 cm mesh). Most abundant large size deepwater shrimp species were Giant red shrimp Aristaemorpha foliacea, Scarlet shrimp Aristeopsis edwardsiana and Royal red shrimp Pleoticus robustus that together represented 90 % of the total catch. Other, like Aristeus antillensis, Penaeopsis serrata and Parapenaeus politus were less abundant and of minor size.  High mean CPUE values (>1.0 kg/h) were registered at the 300-700 m depth range. Mean biomass and catch per unit effort registered values were 609 + 832 g/ha and 2.5 + 3.3 kg/h. High CPUE values (up to 18.62 kg/h) are in the range registered for several deepwater shrimp fisheries in the world. Four potential fishing grounds were identified in the upper slope. Shrimp abundance and value could be attractive enough for developing a deepwater shrimp fishery which can have an impact on the fragile deepwater benthic ecosystem. The eventual utilization of deepwater shrimp must consider a sound fishery plan to assure sustainable exploitation while minimizing impacts on the fragile deep-sea ecosystem.