June 30, 2025 — Over the course of the past year, Dave Williams, a commercial fishery scientist and founder of SeaD Consulting, has been testing shrimp in restaurants all around the Gulf states, Georgia, and the Carolinas to find out if they are selling imported farmed shrimp as Gulf shrimp. The results have been astounding, with restaurants tested in Charleston, South Carolina, showing a 90 percent fraud rate.
Williams’s work, sponsored by the industry group Southern Shrimp Alliance, has prompted the passage of new laws and increased enforcement of existing laws aimed at protecting the U.S. domestic shrimp fleet.
Alabama’s Seafood Labeling Law was passed in May 2024 and took effect on October 1, 2024. It requires food service establishments including restaurants, grocery store delis and seafood retailers, to list the country of origin of its fish and shellfish, or that the product was imported.
The law also requires labels to state if the seafood was farm raised or wild caught. Suppliers must provide the seafood’s country of origin to the restaurants and delis. The law is enforced by the state Department of Public Health and consumers who believe there is a violation of the law can file a complaint via an online form.