Local seafood industry continues to face shrimp import and dumping issues

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - We’re continuing to follow the issues facing our local seafood harvesters specifically, shrimpers.

They’re having trouble all along the East Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico selling their product.

Seafood experts said it’s not because of a lack of shrimp in the area or that they’re being overfished, but that the locally caught product isn’t selling for enough money to make a profit.

According to SeaD Consulting, a group that specializes in the commercial seafood industry, roughly 96% of the shrimp supply here in America is imported.

That imported shrimp is sold for so cheap that American-caught shrimp prices can’t compete.

The group also says there are many deceptive practices in the industry itself.

The issues are affecting generations of shrimpers.

“A lot of shrimpers I’ve talked to, there’s a resounding message that they don’t really want their kids to go into the industry. Their kids themselves don’t wanna go into the industry because they’re seeing how tough it is to make a living right now,” said Erin Williams with SeaD Consulting. “I mean, even in like Savannah, Georgia, for instance, you are at a beautiful location on the coast. And when you go out to a restaurant, you can pay a premium to go sit right on the water and you’re expecting to get fresh local seafood, but that’s not always the case.”

SeaD Consulting also developed a rapid genetic test in collaboration with Florida State University to identify seafood species.

Saying they’ve found fraud at almost every level of the supply chain with shrimp.

Williams says restaurants are required to label the country of origin.

Many seafood experts say increasing regulations and making penalties more severe would help the local industry get back on track.

Increasing the transparency and authenticity in the seafood marketplace is crucial, according to SeaD Consulting.

The company has developed a rapid genetic test for seafood. It only takes two hours to get a result, costing about $20 a sample.

It tests for authenticity and to see which country the seafood came from.

Groups like SeaD consulting say it’s crucial to keep local money in the community, and the economy circulating within coastal areas.

Erin Williams with SeaD says it’s about more than price alone. It’s about protecting the places and people where imported shrimp comes from.

“You definitely find instances of pretty bad business practices. When you’re talking about ethical concerns as well. So sometimes these shrimp farms are in regions with very fragile ecosystems and the damage it can cause is pretty devastating. So along with that, and there are also instances of slave labor and things like that. So when you have a product that is that cheap with such unethical business practices, it really makes our local fresh shrimp, it’s a quality sustainable protein choice. So it’s a no-brainer,” said Erin Williams with SeaD Consulting.

Communities all along the coastline from Texas to Georgia, all the way up to North Carolina rely on shrimping as an integral part of their community.