Tag Archives: Dave Williams
Genetic testing shows fraud in domestic shrimp supply
The ruse was first exposed in Morgan City last summer, at the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. Acting on a hunch and armed with a rapid genetic test, a team of consultants for the domestic shrimp industry ordered cooked plates of shrimp from five different vendors. The shrimp was supposedly sourced from the Gulf of Mexico — but within minutes, the consultants say they discovered the truth. Four of the five samples contained genetic markers of imported farm-raised shrimp, not Gulf shrimp like the vendors claimed. The team was with SeaD Consulting, a Houston-based company dedicated to rooting out seafood fraud. Funded in part by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an industry group for shrimp fishers and processors, SeaD is pioneering this new type of rapid genetic test, which specializes in identifying shrimp species. more, >>CLICK TO READ< 08:18
US taxpayer funds went to foreign competition for domestic shrimpers
Fishermen and shrimpers in the United States have been in a decades-long battle with the very institutions meant to protect them, specifically the U.S. Treasury Department and its World Bank delegation. U.S. trade law bars the support of competing industries in which there is excess supply. Despite such laws, U.S. taxpayers spent two decades funding “aquaculture” projects in Vietnam, India, Ecuador and Indonesia, countries that now supply the overwhelming majority of shrimp to U.S. consumers. “There’s a law on the books that requires the United States, their directors that are at these international financial institutions, to use their voice and vote to oppose any project that where there’s a commodity that’s produced in surplus and where export to the United States would seriously injure a domestic industry,” Nathan Rickard, a trade lawyer who represents the Southern Shrimp Alliance,,, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:45
Shrimp tested at NOLA restaurants: “The most blatant examples of inauthenticity”
The shrimp testers are back in Louisiana, testing the authenticity of seafood at New Orleans restaurants ahead of the Super Bowl. New Orleans restaurants claiming to sell ‘Gulf’ shrimp were tested for authenticity, with about 1 out of 8 restaurants passing off imported shrimp as locally caught. SeaD Consulting tested shrimp at 24 restaurants and found that 3 of them were serving imported shrimp. Dave Williams, Founder of SeaD Consulting, said this is a very high level of authenticity compared to other places. “The restaurants that were inauthentic were inauthentic in a very egregious manner,” Dave said. “They were using lots and lots of imagery, wording and bold statements that they’re serving Gulf shrimp, and they weren’t. The offenders were really, really bad.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:58
Louisiana’s new seafood origin law could still shield foreign catch at restaurants, grocers
Act 148 of the 2024 regular legislative session brought sweeping changes to laws affecting restaurants and other food establishments in an effort to protect Louisiana’s struggling domestic seafood industry. However, the new law, which took effect Jan. 1, could undergo some clarification revisions when lawmakers reconvene this spring. At issue are several provisions concerning menu and labeling requirements. One provision in the new law requires any food service establishment that serves foreign crawfish or shrimp to print a disclaimer on its menu: “Some items served at this establishment may contain imported crawfish or shrimp. Ask for more information.” If the establishment does not use a menu, it must print the disclaimer on a sign at the entrance of the establishment. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:05
Testing finds mostly foreign shrimp at Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival
Genetic testing of seafood served at the recent Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City found four out of five vendors evaluated were serving foreign shrimp passed off as local. The testing was performed at the five-day festival over the Labor Day weekend by Sea D Consulting, a food safety tech company that recently developed a rapid seafood species identification test. Company owner Dave Williams of Houston said local shrimpers in Louisiana invited him to Morgan City to try out his technology at the festival, first held in 1936 and where attendees would expect to find local catch. Williams said he purchased plates of boiled shrimp from five of the roughly 12 seafood vendors at the event, asking each where the shrimp was caught. All five vendors assured him their shrimp came from Louisiana waters, he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:46
Is Your ‘Gulf’ Shrimp Actually Farm-Raised Overseas?
Think you love Gulf shrimp? It’s possible you’ve never even tasted it. Last Labor Day weekend, sample genetic testing at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, Louisiana — where you’d naturally think “Gulf” shrimp was being sold and promoted in a town built on shrimping — revealed that only one of five vendors (Woodreaux’s Cajun Cuisine) was actually serving the real deal. Unaware festival goers never thought to question the source as they consumed imported, farm-raised shrimp right next to the Gulf of Mexico. Shrimp switching is likely happening at your favorite seafood eatery or grocery store, too, despite labeling and signage that may mislead you, just as it did those festival goers. Doug Olander, a commercial shrimp fisherman from Port St. Mary, Louisiana, whose boats have mostly remained docked for two years, says the supply chain needs the transparency that widespread testing provides. “This type of fraud should be a crime,” Olander says. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:38
