Saving Seafood

News for the South Atlantic Region

NORTH CAROLINA: Shrimp trawling ban defeated in House Republican caucus

June 26, 2025 — Shrimpers spoke, and the Republican caucus of the North Carolina House of Representatives listened.

Legislation potentially fatal to the coastal industry, its leaders said, will rest in the Rules Committee of the lower chamber. A Wednesday afternoon session was delayed more than 90 minutes awaiting the decision that rejected the Senate’s insertion of a shrimp trawling ban within a half mile of the shoreline.

The North Carolina Fishers Association, at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon, posted in all caps to its social media, “HB442 trawl ban is dead!”

Sen. Phil Berger, the Rockingham County Republican and president pro tempore, stood by his chamber’s move. Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, pushed for a deeper dive on the decision. Steve Troxler, sixth term Republican state agriculture commissioner, on Monday respectfully confirmed opposition to the trawling ban.

Read the full article at The Center Square

NORTH CAROLINA: Proposed NC shrimp trawl ban defeated

June 26, 2025 — The North Carolina state House declined to act Wednesday on legislation that would ban shrimp trawling in sounds and with 0.5 miles of shore, a victory for commercial fishermen who mounted a week of protects at the state capitol.

“The trawl ban has been defeated,” the North Carolina Fisheries Association announced in an email to supporters, shortly after Republican lawmakers emerged from a caucus meeting around 3 p.m.

“After a long two weeks of emails, calls, one on one conversations, and driving to Raleigh we have come together and defeated the trawl ban!” the announcement read. “Thank you all again for coming out and standing together to support each other! We could not have done this without your support in this tremendous David vs. Goliath battle!”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Shrimp trawling ban in NC sounds dies in the state House, Republicans say

June 25, 2025 — North Carolina House Republicans won’t take up a bill that would ban shrimp trawling in North Carolina sounds, they said Wednesday — a decision met with jubilation from shrimpers in the Legislative Building.

Republican Rep. Mitchell Setzer, the House speaker pro tempore, confirmed the decision with The News & Observer.

House Bill 442 was revised early last week to include an amendment banning trawling within a half-mile of the coast. Before the amendment, the bill originally sought to expand fishing seasons for flounder and red snapper.

Read the full article at The News and Observer

Controversial N.C. shrimp trawling bill passes senate, Outer Banks continues to voice opposition

June 24, 2025 — A bill with an amendment that’s targeting the shrimping industry has passed the senate. Fishing communities continue to hold their breath and feel that if this bill passes, it will be devastating to their livelihood.

“Everything I’ve worked for my entire life would be erased in a week,” said fisherman John Silver.

“I’ve been a commercial fisherman for about 35 years. I started out working at fish houses, and up to owning my own boat,” said fisherman Dewey Hemilright.

For John Silver, Dewey Hemilright and thousands of other fisherman, being out on the water isn’t just their job, it defines them.

“For everybody that does this, they’ve built their entire lives around it. It makes them who they are. So this passes, who are we then,” said Silver.

Read the full article at WTKR

 

NORTH CAROLINA: Coastal communities fear the many ripple effects of a shrimp trawling ban

June 24, 2025 — When traveling east on U.S. 64 – the main highway that connects central N.C. to the Outer Banks – drivers will encounter a billboard encouraging visitors to ask for local seafood.

Part of the “Got To Be NC” marketing campaign, an initiative on behalf of the state’s Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services to promote N.C. agricultural goods, the billboard includes a link to https://nc-seafood.org/, which further touts the state’s fish and shellfish, the finest available “anywhere in the world.”

Even the state’s corresponding Got to Be NC website understands the singularity of local North Carolina seafood, with a featured image of fresh shrimp next to a search for restaurants that have local ingredients on the menu.

There’s a real possibility, however, that in the not-so-distant future, one of the Outer Banks’ most heralded homegrown products will no longer be available to residents and summertime visitors.

“The best shrimp on the East Coast are Pamlico Browns,” said Woody Joyner, President of North Carolina Watermen United (NCWU). “If you can’t shrimp on the sound, and you have to go out on the ocean, you aren’t going to get Pamlico Browns.”

Parc Greene, owner of Risky Business Seafood in Hatteras, estimates that 60% of his business is North Carolina shrimp alone. “I will always sell local shrimp – I will never sell any foreign shrimp,” he said. “And if the ban goes through, there will be no fresh shrimp until the fall, when the boats can go into the ocean. So, no tourist will be able to enjoy N.C. shrimp during the summer season – it won’t be a thing anymore.”

Tilman Gray, who has owned and operated Avon Seafood for 35 years, says that a shrimp trawling ban would cost his business around $200,000 in gross income every year.

Read the full article at the Island Free Press

NORTH CAROLINA: N.C. Senate advances buyout program bill for shrimpers affected by trawling ban

June 24, 2025 — On Monday, June 23, the North Carolina Senate advanced a bill that provides temporary compensation for commercial fishermen who will be deeply affected by a proposed shrimp trawling ban in a related bill, House Bill 442.

House Bill 441 passed 45-2 in its second reading on Monday night, with only Senators Bobby Hanig and Norman Sanderson casting a “no” vote. A third reading and final vote is scheduled for Tuesday, June 24.

Senator Hanig proposed multiple amendments to House Bill 441 prior to the second vote, which were rejected, similar to his efforts last week before the passing of House Bill 442.

House Bill 441 was gutted by the Senate just a few days before it passed its second reading, changing its verbiage and intent.

Originally entitled “An act to adopt the Loggerhead Sea Turtle as the official saltwater reptile of the state of North Carolina,” this innocuous turtle-related bill passed 113-0 in the N.C. House on May 7, 2025.

The revised HB 441 bill – different in every aspect but the House Bill number – has the title “Shrimp Trawling Transition Program/Fees” and it outlines a temporary payment plan for commercial fishermen who will face future losses as a result of a shrimp trawling ban.

Read the full article at Island Free Press

FLORIDA: Florida congressmen seek EEZ ban on shark feeding

June 24, 2025 — Two Florida congressmen introduced a bill that would prohibit shark feeding in federal waters off their state – both extending Florida’s own state waters ban on the practice, and adopting a measure already in effect in the U.S. EEZ around Hawaii and Pacific islands.

The “Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025” was introduced June 6 by Republican Rep. Daniel Webster and Democratic Rep. Darren Soto as “bipartisan legislation that prohibits shark feeding in the exclusive economic zone off the State of Florida,” according to the legislators.

“As a Floridian and member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am committed to the responsible stewardship of our marine ecosystems and safety of our waters,” Webster said inannouncing the bill. “This legislation mirrors current Florida law which helps ensure the safety of Floridians and provide commonsense conservation of marine wildlife.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Outer Banks shrimpers anxiously await fate of trawling ban in NC House

June 23, 2025 — Outer Banks commercial shrimpers will be waiting until next week to learn the fate of a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives that could potentially destroy their business.

An amendment inserted unexpectedly into HB 442 last week set off a firestorm in coastal communities that harvest the majority of the state’s wild-caught shrimp.

The new language, added to what was originally a bill focused on expanding recreational fishing access to flounder and red snapper, calls for a ban on shrimp trawling in all of North Carolina’s inland waters and within a half mile of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. “You’d be wiping out almost a whole industry,” said Steve House, chairman of the Dare County Commission for Working Watermen, which met in a special meeting on Thursday June 19 to discuss the bill.

In a later interview, House, who is vice chair of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, confirmed that HB 442 would likely be voted on in the NC House on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday next week.

“They haven’t put it on the calendar yet,” he said.

Although he believes it will be a close vote, House said he is reasonably optimistic that the controversial bill will fail. “I know our representatives up and down the coast have been working hard to get this bill squashed,” he said.  If the measure passes in the NC House, it will go to the desk of Governor Josh Stein, who House said would not be expected to veto it.

Read the full article at Outer Banks Voice

North Carolina Lawmakers Are Trying To Kill the State’s Booming Shrimp Industry

June 23, 2025 — North Carolina lawmakers are advancing a bill that would kill the state’s shrimping industry.

On Thursday, the state Senate voted on House Bill 442, which had recently been passed by the state’s House of Representatives to expand the recreational fishing season for southern flounder and red snapper and establish a pilot program to restore their populations. Both species had their seasons shortened in 2024 because they were considered overfished by state agencies, despite local fishermen arguing otherwise.

Leading up to the vote, an amendment was added to the bill that would restrict trawling for shrimp—a fishing method that involves mechanically dragging a large net close to the seabed—in inland waters and within half a mile of the coast. Those found violating the trawling ban would be charged with a class A1 misdemeanor, which carries a maximum punishment of 150 days of “active, intermediate or community punishment” and a fine subject to a judge’s discretion.

The measure, and the bill, passed on its third reading with a 39–2 vote. The two dissenting votes came from senators representing coastal counties. Other coastal senators who had previously voted against the amendment voted “absent.” The bill now heads back to the House and, if passed, will go into effect December 1.

The impacts of the legislation could be potentially devastating to the state’s commercial seafood industry, which contributed nearly $300 million to North Carolina’s economy in 2021 while supporting over 5,000 jobs. Nearly 75 percent of the state’s shrimp is caught in the waters that this bill would close off.

Read the full article at Reason

“Shrimp Fraud” Allegations Are Rocking the Restaurant World. We Talked to the Company Blowing the Whistle.

June 20, 2025 — Last week, the Texas-based firm SeaD Consulting released the results from a study that shook the culinary scene in Charleston, South Carolina. A team of undercover testers had paid visits to randomly selected seafood restaurants around the city and used on-the-spot genetic testing to determine whether the shrimp came from local waters. The results were shocking in a town that prides itself on abundant fresh catch: Forty out of the forty-four restaurants it tested, the company reported, served imported, farm-raised shrimp.

Charleston isn’t the first market the company has scrutinized since ramping up its testing efforts last August. SeaD has also visited New Orleans, Savannah, Tampa–St. Petersburg, and Wilmington, North Carolina, among others. Of those cities, New Orleans fared best, with only 13 percent of restaurants misrepresenting their shrimp (largely due to more stringent food labeling laws in Louisiana, according to SeaD). Savannah and Wilmington each tallied 77 percent inauthenticity. In Tampa, just two restaurants of forty-five were serving Gulf shrimp, the firm reported.

Since the Charleston bombshell dropped, the plot has thickened. Local shrimpers have come forward to vouch for clients who buy from them, since SeaD didn’t reveal the names of the forty establishments that served imported shrimp. And the S.C. Shrimpers Association has announced a lawsuit against those unidentified restaurants (referring to them as “John Doe Restaurants” in the complaint) in which it accused them of false advertising and in violation of South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.

With the industry still reeling, we chatted with SeaD founder Dave Willams and his daughter, chief operations officer Erin Williams, to find out exactly how the team conducted its testing, if the Charleston results surprised them, and what changes they hope to see in the shrimping and restaurant industry. And, yes, they know where they’re headed next, but they’re not saying.

Read the full article at Garden and Gun