WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Low Country Shrimpers to Launch Marketing Campaign
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You love them on your plate at dinnertime, but it's often a struggle for shrimpers to get the catch from the sea to the sauce and still make a profit. They're getting a lot of competition from overseas, but we found shrimpers getting together to help each other.
"Shrimp--it's what's for dinner." That might not sound quite right, but something along those lines might not be out of the question, with a marketing campaign by the Southern Shrimp Alliance starting soon.
"The shrimp that are caught in Beaufort County could probably be marketed right here in the surrounding counties and especially in South Carolina," said Clark Lowther of Lemon Island Seafood. "These shrimp that are caught in Beaufort County should never really leave the state."
The alliance isn't sure how it will market the shrimp yet, but already plans to focus on American shrimp. Statistically, about 80 percent of the shrimp people eat here comes from other countries, and shrimpers from America want people to know that and make sure people know where the shrimp is coming from.
"They don't have that choice to make that determination," said Bob Upton of Gay Fish Company. "But this is one of the things we'd like to see with this marketing program like where it'd be under a brand name that would make sure it was an American product."
Upton says pond-raised shrimp from overseas don't taste as good as local shrimp, but unless you're an expert, you might not even know what you're missing. Shrimpers from eight states, including Georgia and South Carolina, started the alliance last year.
Reported by: Chris Cowperthwaite, ccowperthwaite@wtoc.com
