Tag Archives: domestic shrimp industry
Shrimp sham: Investigation finds over 80% of “Gulf shrimp” sold on Mississippi Coast is imported
After Mississippi Gulf Coast staple restaurant Mary Mahoney’s Old French House came under fire for fraudulent branding of seafood, a new third-party investigation has found that mislabeling imported seafood is more rule than the exception for the region’s celebrated food scene. SeaD Consulting, a firm that specializes in genetic testing to monitor mislabeling and substitution fraud in the seafood industry, conducted a comprehensive investigation into the potential misrepresentation of shrimp served across coastal Mississippi. “Consumers come to the coast expecting the finest, freshest Gulf seafood, but what they’re being served often falls far short of that,” COO of SeaD Consulting Erin Williams said in a press release. “This isn’t just about mislabeling; it’s about eroding consumer trust, undercutting local business, and threatening the livelihood of hardworking Gulf shrimpers.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:56The Truth Behind the Menu: Study finds widespread mislabeled shrimp in Coast restaurants
Docked shrimp boats, and empty factories. It’s a sight many in the shrimp industry are dealing with because of the imports flooding the market. “It’s really hard to stay in business, and to stay afloat,” says Ocean Springs Seafood Market Inc. Vice President Bethany Fayard. And it doesn’t help that restaurants are still advertising imported shrimp as domestic. “It’s a dying industry. We have let imports basically hurt the fisherman in Mississippi,” says State Representative Brent Anderson. A seafood consulting group known as SeaD was asked by an unnamed organization to look into this issue. The results were not entirely shocking to Fayard and Anderson, who both push for stricter labeling laws in the state. “In Biloxi, we have a situation which we weren’t coming in to test for, but we discovered quite rapidly, and that is the mislabeling of the Royal Red Shrimp,” says SeaD CEO David Williams. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:52
Valley shrimping companies looking for a way out
Rio Grande Valley shrimpers say they’re ready to sell off their fleets. For years, they’ve faced big losses, and they’re still waiting for help. At the Port of Brownsville, the dock owned by Reyes Trawlers Inc. is one of the few shrimping companies still running most of its boats. The shrimping industry has faced several years of high fuel prices, problems getting worker visas and competition from cheap imports. For many, it’s time to get out of the business. “I 
am almost 73 years old, been doing this since I was 17 years old, and yes I would like to get out today. There’s no profit anymore. I’m just here just because, I’m losing money. For the last three years I’ve lost money,” Reyes Trawlers Inc. owner Carlton Reyes said. Reyes is running five out of six vessels, while many other shrimpers have their fleet docked and unable to work. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:14
Cheap Imports Leave US Shrimpers Struggling to Compete
“We are paying to work. We are paying to feed our nation,” said Kindra Arnesen, at a rally on the steps of Louisiana’s towering capitol in Mid-May. “I ask for immediate emergency action at all levels. Nothing else will be accepted by this group.” The 45 year-old shrimp harvester, who has been hailed as a voice for the Gulf and has fought for decades to sustain the domestic shrimp industry, was surrounded by nearly a hundred other harvesters who had traveled inland from their homes along coastal Louisiana to Baton Rouge to rally for livable shrimp prices. “Nobody can make money,” said Ronald Johnston, a 64-year-old shrimper who came to the U.S. in 1981 as a Vietnamese refugee. At the rally he held a lime-green poster that read: “Shrimp: $.40 cents. Diesel: $3.95” while sitting on a scooter that helps with his mobility. Photos, >click to read and comment< 08:01
