A row of food vendors at the 2024 Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, La. (Photo courtesy of Erin Williams/Sea D Consulting)
Genetic testing of seafood served at the recent Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City found four out of five vendors evaluated were serving foreign shrimp passed off as local.
The testing was performed at the five-day festival over the Labor Day weekend by Sea D Consulting, a food safety tech company that recently developed a rapid seafood species identification test.
Company owner Dave Williams of Houston said local shrimpers in Louisiana invited him to Morgan City to try out his technology at the festival, first held in 1936 and where attendees would expect to find local catch.
Williams said he purchased plates of boiled shrimp from five of the roughly 12 seafood vendors at the event, asking each where the shrimp was caught. All five vendors assured him their shrimp came from Louisiana waters, he said.
He analyzed the samples with technology that examines seafood tissue genetics. Developed in collaboration with Florida State University microbiologist Dr. Prashant Singh, Sea D Consulting’s testing kit is slightly larger than a suitcase and marketed to food safety inspectors who work in the field, Williams said.
Only one of five vendors, WoodDreaux’s Cajun Cuisine, sold shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, according to the testing. The other four samples were foreign, farm-raised species, most likely imported from India or Ecuador, Williams said.
Williams acknowledged his festival experiment wasn’t controlled enough to withstand scientific scrutiny but said his company’s technology has been published in scientific journals and undergone peer review. The purpose of the festival testing was simply to demonstrate the efficacy of the field test kit.
Of the four vendors selling foreign shrimp, two were local restaurants and the other two were vendors that exclusively service fairs and festivals, Williams said. He declined to identify them by name, saying his testing wasn’t meant to embarrass anyone. However, he said, festival organizers should hold vendors to a higher standard.
“The person getting the revenue knew, and the people at the top definitely, definitely, definitely knew” foreign shrimp were being sold, he said.
Representatives from the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment.
There have been 2,600 violations of Louisiana’s imported shrimp law — and no fines
“It’s shocking and it’s not shocking,” state Sen. Pat Connick, R-Marrero, said when told about the testing results. “How long has this been going on? People think they’re buying local, Louisiana Gulf shrimp, and they’re being lied to.”
Connick has been a leading critic of foreign seafood mislabeled and passed off as domestic catch. He authored a new law against misleading seafood marketing that requires anyone serving seafood in Louisiana to clearly disclose whether it is local or imported.
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. Although it is illegal under federal and state law to misrepresent imported seafood as local, the laws are not well enforced.
In a phone interview Monday, Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna said the enforcement problem is much bigger than one he can solve, but he said he will use his influence with the festival organizers to try to prohibit imported seafood for the future.
“Personally, I believe we should be buying the local shrimp,” Dragna said. “But … when the shrimp come into the dock, they’re empty in one day. There’s only a few shrimp boats that come into Morgan City.”
A table at the 2024 Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City proudly displays its awards. (Photo courtesy of Erin Williams/Sea D Consulting)
Most restaurants in the state serve imported shrimp and crawfish to patrons who may be oblivious to it, according to the Louisiana Shrimp Association. The effects are threatening the survival of a local industry and unique culture while also potentially introducing harmful contaminants into the food supply.
The Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, which is supposed to promote the local shrimp industry through public outreach and tourism events, did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, the Louisiana Legislature passed sweeping changes to public health codes that will affect thousands of restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores and other establishments across the state, including every state agency and school district that serves food. They will have to explicitly disclose the country of origin, even when serving domestic seafood, on their menus or on a sign. Proprietors that still choose to serve foreign catch must include an additional disclaimer that states: “Some items served at this establishment may contain imported seafood. Ask for more information.”
Those stricter seafood laws will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
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