Tag Archives: Southern Shrimp Alliance
ODDS ARE IN LAKE CHARLES, YOU’RE GETTING THE REEL DEAL ON THE PLATE
When it comes to seafood in Lake Charles, diners have reason to feel more confident than many other markets being tested in the 8-state study being commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance and the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force. New genetic testing shows that 19 out of 24 shrimp dishes sampled at local restaurants were either made with verified wild-caught Gulf shrimp or were correctly labeled as imports—a high authenticity rate credited to Louisiana’s strong Country of Origin labeling laws and active enforcement. That means Lake Charles has a 21% inauthenticity rate compared to states without labeling and enforcement, where the average inauthenticity rate is 78%. The testing was conducted by SEAD Consulting using its patented RIGHTTest™ as part of a regional effort to protect consumers and support the domestic shrimp industry. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:03
NCFA WEEKLY UPDATE FOR May 05, 2025 – New Report Claims Wilmington Diners are Being Swindled, ASMFC Meeting This Week
Wilmington’s seafood promises a taste of the Carolina coast, but many restaurants aren’t delivering on that claim. What’s often advertised as local shrimp is actually imported, leaving customers unaware they’re being deceived. A recent investigation found that 77% of Wilmington-area restaurants surveyed are fraudulently mislabeling shrimp, passing off imported, farm-raised products as fresh, locally caught. The results, based on randomized genetic testing at 44 restaurants, point to a widespread pattern of deception that harms both consumers and the local shrimping industry. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meets this week for their Spring quarterly meeting. The meeting will be May 5th – 8th at the Westin Crystal City Hotel at 1800 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA 2220. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:29
Jazz Fest bucks national trend by serving real gulf shrimp, new testing shows
Amid growing concerns nationwide over seafood fraud, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has emerged as a rare bright spot in the murky world of shrimp sourcing. A new round of genetic testing found that nearly every shrimp dish sold at this year’s Jazz Fest was made with genuine U.S. wild-caught shrimp from the Gulf — a striking contrast to most restaurants across the South. The study, conducted by SeaD Consulting using its RIGHTTest genetic analysis tool, examined 19 shrimp-based dishes from vendors at the 2025 festival. Of those, 18 were verified to contain authentic Gulf shrimp. Only one dish, from a vendor whose other offerings passed the test, was found to use imported shrimp. The test was funded by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a national advocacy group for domestic shrimpers. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:14
Wilmington and Surrounding Beach Areas Shrimp Scene Tarnished: 77% of Restaurants Mislead Diners with Imported Shrimp Masquerading as Local
Wilmington, NC – April 29, 2025 – As travelers flock to Wilmington’s scenic coastlines and historic riverfront for its rich culture and renowned coastal cuisine, many are unknowingly being served foreign, farm-raised shrimp disguised as local catch. In a recent investigation by SEAD Consulting, commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), randomized genetic testing revealed a 77% fraud rate in shrimp served at Wilmington-area seafood restaurants. From April 9-12, 2025, SEAD Consulting conducted its RIGHTTest™—a portable, rapid, high-accuracy genetic analysis—on shrimp samples from 44 randomly selected restaurants throughout Wilmington and nearby coastal towns of North Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach. The results were unsettling: more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:33
Shrimpers hope tariffs bring rescue
While American consumers and businesses fret over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, one struggling group is cheering him on: Gulf coast shrimpers. These shrimpers have been hit hard in recent years by a wave of cheap imported shrimp flooding the US market and dominating restaurant menus. Prices have plummeted, profits have thinned to a razor’s edge, and many local operators are fighting to stay afloat. Tariffs, they hope, might level the playing field. “It’s been tough the last several years that we’ve tried to fight through this,” said Reed Bowers, owner of Bowers Shrimp Farm in Palacios, Texas. Tough times have forced difficult decisions – “cutting people off, laying people off, or reducing hours or wages … whatever we can do to survive,” Bowers said. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:37
Louisiana’s Troy Carter and Clay Higgins want to let the FDA destroy more imported seafood
Though they barely agree on anything politically, Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, of New Orleans, and Republican Rep. Clay Higgins, of Lafayette, came together in an attempt to heighten the regulatory wall protecting Louisiana’s seafood industry from foreign imports. They introduced legislation Wednesday that gives the federal Food & Drug Administration additional powers to impound and destroy imported seafood found contaminated, adulterated or misbranded. “This bill protects consumers from potential health risks and upholds the integrity of our food supply chain, while supporting Louisiana fishermen and seafood processors,” Carter said. “By granting the FDA the necessary authority to destroy food products that fail to meet our strict health and safety standards, we are closing a dangerous loophole that has allowed contaminated seafood to enter our markets.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:45
Southern Shrimp Alliance urging Congress to pass legislation that would lead to the destruction contaminated imported food
Louisiana Congressmen Clay Higgins and Troy Carter have filed legislation to give the FDA the authority to destroy contaminated food imports, like seafood, eliminating the option to re-export rejected goods. Deborah Long with the Southern Shrimp Alliance says the bill closes a loophole that allows importers to “port shop” rejected products back into the U.S. “Because we only test 0.1-percent of our shrimp and seafood for banned antibiotics, that means there’s a good chance that product can move just down to a different port and reenter our country.” Many shipments contaminated with banned drugs or pathogens are simply returned to exporters. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:27
South Carolina shrimpers see tariffs as opportunity, want targeted approach
“The first news of the tariffs, we were all excited,” Bryan Jones, a first-generation shrimper who lives in McClellanville, said. “We certainly empathize with anybody that views this as a negative downturn…but [with] this suffering that our industry has had for the last 20 years, our view is that it will provide a lifeline. The domestic shrimping industry has suffered in recent decades as foreign countries like India, Indonesia, Ecuador, and Vietnam dump billions of pounds of shrimp into the market, thereby artificially deflating the price. “It’s squeezing us out of the market where we once had 80% of the market share 20 years ago, we’re now down to 6%,” Jones said, who also serves as vice president of the South Carolina Shrimpers Association. “That’s really stifling to, you know, the people that are trying to make a living and feed their families here in these rural coastal communities.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:53
Tariffs not a long-term fix for shrimping industry: Shrimpers
Shortly after the White House on Wednesday afternoon abruptly paused the tariffs that had gone into effect some 12 hours earlier and lowering them to 10% on goods for 90 days, minus those from China, the Southern Shrimp Alliance released a statement reiterating its support for tariffs. “It is encouraging that the Trump Administration’s tariffs have prompted countries to show a new willingness to address trade policies disadvantaging American producers,” Southern Shrimp Alliance Executive Director John Williams stated. “We want to compete in a market where competitors cannot use intolerable practices like forced labor and banned antibiotics to undercut us. For shrimpers, tariffs respond to an urgent need to offset unfair trade.” And while shrimpers say that will be the case, that’s not where they want their message to end. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:56
19 Baldwin County restaurants claiming imported shrimp is locally sourced: report
An investigation into the Baldwin County restaurant scene and shrimp served has been finalized, leading to the finding of 19 restaurants making false claims, News 5 has learned. According to a SeaD Consulting news release, the Southern Shrimp Alliance commissioned the group to genetically analyze shrimp dishes at 44 restaurants in the Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Foley areas. This investigation into the restaurants began after genetic testing of shrimp at the 2024 National Shrimp Festival, which found that four out of five vendors were selling imported shrimp, according to the release. The consulting group found that 25 of the 44 restaurants serve “authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp,” while 19 serve imported shrimp, claiming their shrimp was locally sourced. The group said they also found that the seven “boil houses” were serving authentic, local shrimp. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:49
Louisiana shrimpers commend new tariffs, express optimism
Local shrimpers are hopeful the new tariffs on imported shrimp will bolster the domestic shrimp industry. “We’ve had to get more active and have to go to Baton Rouge or have to go to Washington, D.C. That kind of thing or something that really never happened from our level before,” said Cheri Blanchard with the Southern Shrimp Alliance. Blanchard has witnessed a shift in the local shrimping business over the years. She explains that more than 90% of shrimp consumed in the United States is imported from countries like India, Indonesia and Ecuador, driving down prices and crushing U.S. shrimp owners’ businesses. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
U.S. Shrimp Industry Hails New Tariffs as Crucial Lifeline
In a move aimed at protecting American jobs and ensuring food security, the Trump Administration has announced new tariffs on major shrimp-supplying countries, a decision praised by the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We’ve watched as multigenerational family businesses tie up their boats, unable to compete with foreign producers who play by a completely different set of rules,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We are grateful for the Trump Administration’s actions today, which will preserve American jobs, food security, and our commitment to ethical production.“ Unfair trade policies that disadvantage American shrimpers include billions of dollars in subsidies from international financial institutions to develop foreign shrimp aquaculture, along with widespread use of forced labor, banned antibiotics, and environmental destruction that reduce the cost of shrimp production in major supplying countries. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:39
Gulf Coast shrimpers say bring on Trump’s tariffs: ‘This industry is dying’
It’s been four months since Henry Barnes, the mayor of this struggling fishing village in southern Alabama, wrote to Donald Trump for help. A flood of cheap imported shrimp is killing the local seafood market, he wrote, thanks to “low and non-existent tariffs.” He invited Trump, for whom he voted, to come visit Bayou La Batre, known as Alabama’s Seafood Capital. But thus far he hasn’t heard back. “He’ll eventually get around to us,” said Barnes, a third-generation net-maker. “I mean, we’re just a small town.” In February, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., sent a letter asking Trump to assist the state’s seafood industry by imposing tariffs of up to 100% on shrimp and crawfish imports. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:39
Waste of the Day: Over $1 Billion for Foreign Shrimp
The U.S. contributed to over $1 billion spent promoting shrimp farming in foreign countries from 1998 to 2023, which members of Congress say may have violated a federal law protecting American industries from overseas competition. The money came from various United Nations agencies that the U.S. helps fund, including the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Finance Corporation, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an advocacy group representing American fishermen. More than $500 million went to companies in Ecuador. The Philippines, China, India and Indonesia each received more than $100 million. Peru, Mexico, Belize and other nations in Latin America and Southeast Asia received funds as well. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:49
Shreveport restaurants found misleading diners with imported shrimp
A new report has cast a harsh spotlight on Shreveport’s restaurant scene, revealing that more than half of sampled eateries are misleading customers about the origin of their shrimp. Genetic testing conducted earlier this month found that 58% of the 24 sampled restaurants falsely advertised or implied that their shrimp were wild-caught from the Gulf of Mexico, when in fact they were serving farm-raised imports. The investigation, commissioned by the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force and carried out by SEAD Consulting, uncovered the highest mislabeling rate in the state to date. Six restaurants went a step further, explicitly labeling their dishes as “Gulf shrimp” despite serving foreign-sourced seafood. “This is not just about a menu mistake. This is food fraud,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Consumers believe they’re supporting local fishermen and eating a premium, domestic product. Instead, they’re being served something entirely different — often at the same price.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:45
Shrimp bill hits rough waves in Georgia Senate
With little more than a week remaining in this year’s meeting of the Georgia General Assembly, a bill to help protect the livelihoods of Coastal Georgia shrimpers from the deluge of imported foreign shrimp has run into uncertain waters. The culprit, says Coastal Georgia shrimp advocate John Wallace, is the restaurant industry. The measure, introduced in January by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) and co-sponsored by Al Williams (D-Midway), Rick Townsend (R-Brunswick), Buddy DeLoach (R-Townsend), and Lehman Franklin (R-Statesboro), would require restaurants and other food service establishments to inform customers of the origin of their shrimp and other seafood. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:51
Save Our Shrimpers Act reintroduced to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund foreign shrimp
Recent findings by the Southern Shrimp Alliance uncovered that United States taxpayer dollars were being used to finance foreign shrimp operations through international financial institutions. Cheri Blanchard is a Louisiana board member with the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We find these situations like we’ve been ringing the bell about the World Bank and about international financing going into foreign shrimp aquaculture and with taxpayer money,” said Blanchard. “The value of U.S. Shrimp has been cut in half from 2021 to 2023, and it’s still about that value because people have had to tie up their boats,” she said. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:08
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
Sen. Cassidy to Sec. Bessent: Halt U.S. Funding for Foreign Shrimp Aquaculture
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, has called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to block U.S. taxpayer dollars from financing foreign shrimp aquaculture projects through International Financial Institutions (IFIs). In a letter to Secretary Bessent, Cassidy urged the Treasury, in coordination with the State Department, to take all necessary actions to prevent any future funding of shrimp aquaculture development, which would exacerbate the financial crisis facing U.S. shrimpers. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, representing the U.S. shrimp industry in eight states, commends Senator Cassidy’s action and echoes the urgent need for action. Links, graphs, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:23
Something’s fishy: Florida State research cracks the case on shrimp swap scandal
Florida State University assistant professor Prashant Singh
When it comes to seafood, people want the real deal – not some fishy bait-and-switch. But in the billion-dollar shrimp industry, it turns out diners might not be getting what they paid for: Eateries offering imported shrimp disguised as locally caught delicacies. David Williams, founder of Houston-based food safety tech company SeaD Consulting, has spent years diving into the murky waters of seafood sourcing. His team’s research kept surfacing the same troubling question: Do consumers really know where their shrimp come from? “Why would you want to be lied to?” Williams said. After all, no one orders a plate of shrimp expecting a side of deception. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:39
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 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
South Carolina shrimpers are in troubled waters. Here’s how the industry is seeking relief
South Carolina shrimpers are in a fight for their industry’s future. Facing pressures from foreign countries shipping in cheap, frozen catches in abundance, domestic shrimpers have been unable to compete. Bryan Jones is a first-generation shrimper in McClellanville. Before his life became centered around nets and saltwater and fresh catch, he was a vice president of a wealth management firm in Florida. The work is exhausting and the days on the deck of his trawler, the Pamela Sue, are long, Jones said. There are risks involved with shrimping — financial, environmental, physical — but he saw an opportunity to create a livelihood for his family and couldn’t resist. He joins at a time when fishermen are struggling, and more are deciding to leave the trade altogether. “The average age of a shrimp boat captain, I believe, is 65,” Jones said. “What we need is an injection of youth in the industry to sustain it.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:21
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
A call for the price of shrimp to rise as St. Helena Island’s boats head to sea
The future is uncertain for shrimpers in coastal South Carolina, but you wouldn’t know that from the bright, buoyant crowd that gathered Saturday at the Gay Fish Company. Attendees rang in the start of the 2024 season with cowbells and noisemakers, sending off a fleet of shrimp trawlers into the Harbour River as their nets waved like sails in the gentle morning breeze. Owned by a family of veterans spanning three generations, the Gay Fish Company on St. Helena Island held its inaugural “Blessing of the Fleet” Saturday morning. Typically involving a local pastor praying over captains for a safe and bountiful season, the practice has been a staple in fishing communities for centuries. But as fisheries up and down the coast grapple with industry shakeups from overseas, the ceremony takes on a new sort of significance. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:29
Coastal Georgia Shrimping: A new season of uncertainty, possibilities and hope
In a word, “difficult,” said Dee Kicklighter of their most recent shrimping season. Kicklighter, who has worked with Mathews for about eight years, has seen first-hand how the unpredictability of the business can be costly. “You plan for something to be one price, and then the next week you come back, and it could be potentially thousands of dollars more, depending on what you’re dealing with,” he said of fluctuating prices, including fuel. Over the years, Mathews said the ever-changing cost of fuel has taken a toll on the number of shrimpers in the industry. It’s not just Georgia shrimpers contending with the negative effects from imports. North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and other coastal states are also feeling the friction of narrowing profit margins that threaten their way of life. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:15
Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy
Flicking heads off shrimp is one of the first jobs you learn when you’re born a Davis. Joseph “Jody” Davis remembers filling up a bucket of beheaded shrimp for his grandmother for a quarter when he was just 4 years old. “It wasn’t bad money in the ’70s,” he said, standing on the dock of Davis Seafood, the family business in Sneads Ferry. His 25-year-old daughter, Hannah, swiftly beheads a just-caught batch for a customer order. Muscle memory fills the bin. “We’ve been at this exact spot since 1949,” he said. “But we’ve been commercial fishermen for centuries.” The Davis Seafood office door is decorated with two stickers bearing the same mantra: “FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS EAT IMPORTED SHRIMP.” Customers notice it and laugh. “But it’s more than just comedy,” Davis said. “It’s a way of life for us. And if people just cast us aside, we’re done.” photos, more, >>click to read<< 16:12
Southern Shrimp Alliance Submits Comments Opposing Request by Government of Vietnam to be Treated as a Market Economy
Over the objection of a large and diverse group of American industries and producers, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is currently conducting an administrative proceeding to determine whether Vietnam should Government of Vietnam a market economy for the purposes of our antidumping duty laws. Commerce’s current practice treats Vietnam as a non-market economy (NME) and applies special rules to address the distortions caused by the government of Vietnam’s control over the country’s economy. Under these special rules, Vietnamese shrimp exporters that are controlled by the government are subject to a 25.76 percent antidumping duty rate. more, >>click to read<< 11:23
Southeast Texas shrimpers hope two new bills will help keep imported shrimp from taking away their jobs
The Port Arthur Shrimper’s Association held an informational meeting Wednesday to help stop shrimp dumping. Shrimp dumping is the heavy importing of shrimp from other countries. Shrimpers in Southeast Texas are also pushing to impose stricter tariffs on imported shrimp. They say regulating the amount and quality of shrimp coming in could save their livelihoods. Two new federal bills could potentially benefit shrimpers and Southeast Texans. Local shrimpers say they aren’t making any money because U.S. businesses are buying imported shrimp at low prices. Video, more, >>click to read<< 09:47
