Lowcountry Shrimp Fleet - Page 3

Domestic vs. Import

The reality is that domestic, wild-caught, shrimp could never meet the total demand in the United States. Imported and pond-raised shrimp isn’t going anywhere. It is cheap and abundant, packaged according to uniform sizes, and has well-established distribution channels through the retail and restaurant chains.

As the lowest common denominator, however, it also wields a vast influence on buyer’s perception of the market price for shrimp.

“Our goal is to educate the public on what is available and what the differences are,” says LouAnn Love, executive director of the South Carolina Seafood Alliance. In the balance lies not only the preservation of domestic wild-caught as a viable product but also the traditional heritage, going back generations, of local fishermen.

“We’re producing just as many shrimp now as we were twenty to thirty years ago,” Gordon adds. “The original demand and the market were created by wild American shrimp. People often don’t realize how often that the product is being substituted today.”

Because of this, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for fish and shellfish, administered through the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, was a landmark victory for the Southern Shrimp Alliance and Wild American Shrimp, Inc. Connoisseurs agree that there is no comparison between the taste of a fresh caught local shrimp and one that was imported frozen, but the label helps to clarify things without getting the teeth and tongue involved. COOL, then, can be seen as a sort of Appellation d'Origine Controlee for the seafood industry. Wild American Shrimp is currently working with several universities to establish a certification program that local shrimp fishermen can use to put a seal of authenticity on their own product.

Continued on page 4

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