Seafood testing in Lafayette finds 4 restaurants serving foreign shrimp mislabeled as local

Fried shrimp. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

Genetic seafood testing in Lafayette this month found four of the 24 restaurants sampled were deceptively serving foreign shrimp presented as domestic in violation of state law.

SeaD Consulting, the same company that has been making headlines for its efforts to uncover seafood fraud at restaurants and fairs across the Gulf Coast, announced in a news release Thursday that it tested shrimp dishes at 24 randomly selected restaurants in the Lafayette area from Feb. 10-13. Its testing found a total of eight establishments serving foreign farm-raised shrimp with four doing so deceptively, misrepresenting it as local catch in dishes like shrimp étouffée, gumbo and po-boys, according to the press release.

It is illegal to misrepresent imported seafood as local. It can result in heavy fines and, in some cases, felony criminal charges at the federal level. 

The Federal Trade Commission prohibits restaurants from using misleading menu descriptions, slogans, decorations or imagery, such as nets or photos of shrimp boats on their walls, that suggest seafood is local when imported farm-raised fare is actually served.

Additionally, a Louisiana law that took effect this year ushered in heavier fines for fraudulent seafood labeling and requires restaurants to clearly state the country of origin of seafood on their menus. However, comparable laws that have been on the books for years have gone unenforced.

There have been 2,600 violations of Louisiana’s imported shrimp law — and no fines

SeaD Consulting launched its testing efforts last year at restaurants and festivals along the Gulf Coast as domestic shrimpers and governments try to crack down on the influx of cheap foreign catch flooding the U.S. seafood market over the past two decades. The company developed a rapid field testing kit that examines seafood tissue genetics in a process similar to the way medical professionals detect viral infections. 

Dave Williams, a commercial fishery scientist and SeaD Consulting’s founder, developed the test in collaboration with Florida State University microbiologist Prashant Singh. 

In December, the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force, an advisory panel for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, asked SeaD Consulting to analyze shrimp from restaurants across the state in an effort to eliminate consumer seafood fraud. 

Williams noted that half of the eight Lafayette restaurants serving foreign shrimp were doing so within the bounds of the law by using proper menu descriptions, which he said is a clear indicator that restaurant owners are aware of the laws. The other four were deliberately misleading their customers, he said. 

SeaD has so far chosen to not disclose the names of the restaurants found to be misrepresenting their seafood. Instead, the company said it prefers to publicly list the restaurants that are operating truthfully and quietly furnish the list of violators to state authorities.