Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Fishermen in Southwest Louisiana Say LNG Terminals Are to Blame for Shrimp Harvest Decline

September 8, 2025 — Ray Mallett started fishing near the mouth of the Calcasieu River more than half a century ago as part of the “mosquito fleet,” a ragtag group of kids that plied the surrounding rivers and bayous in small motorboats in search of crabs.

A Gulf Coast fisherman like his father before him, Mallett harvested shrimp for decades from an estuary in Southwest Louisiana that was once the seafood capital of America.

Now, he can hardly catch enough shrimp to pay for fuel.

“Each year we’re getting less and less,” Mallett said, standing at the helm of his boat, Cajun Memories. The name is a nod to his roots, and as one of the last remaining shrimp boats in Cameron’s port, a once-thriving fishery.

Read the full article at Inside Climate News

LOUISIANA: Seafood testers find Shreveport restaurants deceiving customers with foreign shrimp

March 27, 2025 — Undercover seafood testers sampled a selection of restaurants in the Shreveport area this month and detected what they say is the highest shrimp fraud rate they have recorded to date in Louisiana.

SeaD Consulting, a food testing company that has been making headlines for uncovering seafood fraud at restaurants and festivals across the Gulf Coast, announced in a news release Wednesday that a “troubling” 58% of the restaurants sampled were deceptively serving foreign shrimp falsely presented as if it were domestic in violation of state law.

The company’s use of genetic testing found a total of 17 out of 24 restaurants sampled, or 71%, served foreign farm-raised shrimp. Fourteen of those, or 58%, did so deceptively by mislabeling the country of origin or refusing to indicate it on their menus or restaurant signage.

The sampling, taken March 8-10, is so far the highest inauthenticity rate that SeaD has recorded in Louisiana since it first launched its testing efforts last year at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City.

The company does not identify the restaurants that aren’t following the state’s labeling law, opting instead to raise awareness of its existence.

SeaD executive Erin Williams said six of the restaurants were “blatantly being deceptive” by explicitly mislabeling their dishes as “Gulf shrimp” rather than just falsely suggesting it.

It is illegal under federal and state law to mislabel imported seafood as local and can result in fines or other penalties. In some instances, seafood fraud offenses at the federal level can yield criminal charges or even prison time, such as in the 2024 convictions of two Mississippi restaurant owners, one of whom was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Local seafood was once easy to find in Louisiana, but an influx of cheap foreign catch, particularly shrimp and crawfish, has flooded the market over the past two decades.

Williams said she believes there is less public awareness in the Shreveport area of the foreign seafood problem and the plight of the coastal communities that depend on commercial fishermen.

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator

LOUISIANA: Investigation finds evidence of shrimp fraud in Lafayette, Louisiana

March 3, 2025 — A recent genetic investigation conducted by SeaD (Seafood Development) Consulting into shrimp served at restaurants in Lafayette, Louisiana, revealed that 33 percent of shrimp served in local restaurants is not locally-sourced.

Though the sample was small (24 restaurants), the findings are in keeping with the results of genetic testing of shrimp served in other Gulf states.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Investigation uncovers shrimp fraud in Louisiana ahead of Super Bowl LIX

February 5, 2025 — The Super Bowl brings an influx of visitors Louisiana, and many will be indulging in the state’s world-famous local seafood, from po’ boys to gumbo. However, a recent study conducted by SEAD Consulting has uncovered that some restaurants have “dropped the ball” when claiming to serve authentic Gulf shrimp and being honest with their customers.

Of the 24 randomly selected seafood restaurants tested in New Orleans that explicitly advertised their shrimp as “Gulf” or “authentic”, three were found to be mislabeling their product and serving farm-raised imports instead. While this 13% fraud rate is the lowest recorded to date in SEAD Consulting’s multi-state study, the nature of the deception in New Orleans is particularly striking, and highlights the need for increased enforcement.

“While New Orleans has the lowest shrimp fraud rate we’ve seen in our multi-state study so far, the deception we did uncover is particularly blatant,” said Erin Williams, COO of SEAD Consulting. “These restaurants aren’t just using suggestive imagery and
wording—they are explicitly marketing their shrimp as ‘Gulf’ or ‘authentic’ while serving something else. A 13% fraud rate means that if you order eight shrimp dishes advertised as local, chances are one of them isn’t what it claims to be.”

FLORIDA: Tampa Bay area seafood restaurants found mislabeling shrimp

January 28, 2025 — Tampa and St. Petersburg are facing a startling revelation with only two out of 44 sampled restaurants serve authentic, wild-caught Gulf shrimp.

A recent investigation, led by SeaD Consulting, exposes a 96% fraud rate, with most establishments relying on imported, farm-raised shrimp from countries like India, Vietnam and Ecuador.

The investigation identified just two restaurants as serving genuine Gulf shrimp, putting into question the region’s seafood reputation.

“When diners think of Tampa and St. Pete, they think of seafood fresh from the Gulf,” said David Williams, a commercial fishery scientist and founder of SeaD Consulting, in a news release. “To discover that the majority of restaurants are serving shrimp sourced from overseas is a wake-up call for the area’s food scene.”

Read the full article at The Center Square

Patriotic Prawns encouraging US restaurants to sell locally sourced shrimp as concerns over shrimp mislabeling grow

January 7, 2025 — Patriotic Prawns, a new program out of Mississippi, is hoping to educate the public about where the shrimp they’re consuming at restaurants comes from – but said they are finding that many of the state’s restaurant owners are unenthusiastic about committing to serve 100 percent U.S.-sourced shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico.  

After a December 2024 study showed that many Mississippi restaurants were serving imported shrimp to unsuspecting customers, the owner of a local shrimp processing and delivery company decided to take action. Bethany Fayard, Vice President of Ocean Springs Seafood, started the Patriotic Prawns program, which entitles participants who agree to random freezer inspections and reviews of shrimp processing records to a sticker that advertises that their business sells 100 percent U.S. sourced shrimp.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US suppliers share USD 32.5 million USDA shrimp contract

February 8, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued contracts cumulatively worth USD 32.5 million (EUR 30 million) to several U.S. Gulf of Mexico wild shrimp suppliers.

After asking for bids in mid-January 2024, the USDA awarded the majority of the contracts for 385,000 cases of peeled and deveined shrimp to New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.-based Paul Piazza & Son for USD 15.1 million (EUR 14 million).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Op-Ed: Preserving our heritage and livelihood – A shrimper’s stand against unjust regulations

January 18, 2024 — I’ve been a shrimper for over 45 years. It’s more than just a job; it’s a legacy that’s been passed down through generations in my family. Since I was 15, I’ve been working in the waters of Plaquemines Parish, my workplace, my passion, and my source of livelihood. Today, as I continue to bring the finest Gulf shrimp to your tables, I find myself fighting not only for my job but for the very soul of Louisiana’s shrimping heritage.

The recent rule by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) mandating the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) on skimmer trawl vessels longer than 40 feet is a real threat to our community. This rule, though it may seem well-intentioned, is an example of overreach and disregard for our industry’s reality. That’s why, under my leadership, the Louisiana Shrimp Association is taking a stand by suing against this unfair regulation on the same day the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the power of faraway bureaucrats in the Loper Bright case.

Our challenge isn’t about denying environmental stewardship; we shrimpers understand the importance of preserving marine life more than anyone else. Our problem lies in the NMFS’s lack of consideration for the real-world reasons and impact of this rule. Studies show that there is minimal interaction between sea turtles and shrimpers in the waters where we mostly operate, and our waters aren’t primary nesting sites for these creatures. However, the NMFS chose to ignore this evidence and push through a rule that could devastate our industry.

Read the full article at The Center Square

LOUISIANA: Louisiana shrimpers, lawmakers unite to protect domestic fisheries as season begins

August 10, 2023 — The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission announced the opening dates for the fall inshore shrimp season Aug. 7.

Meanwhile, Louisiana lawmakers have called on Congress to protect the domestic seafood industry as shrimp harvesters face low prices due to large amounts of imported shrimp.

The Louisiana Shrimp Association joined in a letter that said the influx of imported shrimp has proven especially problematic for domestic harvesters. Nineteen other allied organizations and companies, representing more than 4,000 seafood businesses of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic region also signed onto the letter.

Read the full article at the Daily Advertiser