Human Rights and Consumer Protection Groups Link Aqua Star’s Farmed Shrimp Suppliers to Reports of Forced Labor, Radioactive and Antibiotic Contamination, and Environmental Destruction
Last week, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) and GMO/Toxin Free USA co-filed a consumer protection complaint against seafood giant Aqua Star, asking the DC Superior Court to halt the company’s marketing of farmed shrimp products as sustainable, safe, and ethically produced at major retail stores such as Target, Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter, and Kroger. The complaint alleges that Aqua Star’s Seafood Forever™ social and environmental responsibility claims are false and misleading because the company’s shrimp suppliers have been reported to engage in forced labor, debt bondage, hazardous working conditions, and severe environmental damage, including groundwater contamination and destruction of vital coastal ecosystems. Over the past year, certain Aqua Star suppliers have had shrimp products refused entry into the United States due to reasons related to banned antibiotics or recalled for potential radioactive contamination.
The civil case seeks injunctive relief—not monetary damages—under the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) to prevent Aqua Star from falsely marketing its farmed shrimp products as responsibly sourced.
Lawsuit: Aqua Star’s Claims Mislead Consumers
Aqua Star sources shrimp from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, regions where shrimp aquaculture is systemically tied to environmental harm, human rights abuses, and antibiotic-contaminated shrimp products, according to third-party reports. The complaint contends widespread problems are documented at specific Aqua Star suppliers, despite the company’s “sustainably sourced” or “responsibly and naturally farmed” labeling and marketing materials.
Far From “Socially Responsible”
In March 2024, CAL released the results of a three-year investigation with 150+ interviews across India’s shrimp supply chain, Hidden Harvest: Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in India’s Shrimp Industry, that revealed what investigators described as pervasive abuses at Indian shrimp hatcheries, farms, and processing facilities—including at Nekkanti Sea Foods, a known Aqua Star supplier, according to the compliant. Investigators found female workers at Nekkanti reported receiving less than half a living wage, living under guarded surveillance in company-owned hostels under surveillance, restricted movement, working 10 to 12-hour shifts peeling frozen shrimp without adequate protection, and enduring verbal abuse.
These findings of worker exploitation in Indian shrimp aquaculture have been corroborated by the Associated Press, the Outlaw Ocean Project, and CNN. In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor formally added Indian shrimp to its 2024 List of Goods Produced by Forced Labor. The U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report separately flagged indicators of forced labor in India’s shrimp and aquaculture facilities. A mid-2024 government inspection of processing plants in Andhra Pradesh, the epicenter of the country’s shrimp aquaculture industry, found every facility inspected to be in violation of applicable labor laws.
The compliant reports Aqua Star also imports from the four top Indonesian shrimp exporters—Makmur Sejati, Sekar Bumi Tbk, Bumi Menara Internusa, and PT Pabrik Lamongan BMI—all of which source from farms with informal employment arrangements that increase exploitation risk. 2024 investigations into the shrimp supply chains in Indonesia and Vietnam found that worker exploitation and forced labor were increasing.
Falling Short on Environmental Claims
Hidden Harvest also reported how shrimp aquaculture operations, which the claim says includes suppliers of Aqua Star, caused mangrove destruction, groundwater contamination in surrounding villages, and declining fish yields. The report concludes the Indian government has largely left the shrimp industry to self-regulate, with minimal enforcement of applicable environmental and labor laws.
Not quite “pure” and “naturally farmed” as claimed
Between August and October 2025, Aqua Star shrimp was recalled five times for possible Cesium-137 contamination, a man-made radioactive isotope linked to cancer risk, traced to Indonesian supplier P.T. Bahari Makmur.
In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly refused entry to shrimp exported by Aqua Star’s supplier, PT Pabrik Lamongan BMI, for reasons related to contamination with antibiotic and/or veterinary drug residues, including nitrofurans, as reported by SSA.
The Government Accountability Office reports that the FDA tests only 0.1% of all seafood imports for such residues, indicating a significant likelihood that contaminated shrimp enter the US market.
Health experts have been sounding the alarm that the overuse of medically important antibiotics in shrimp aquaculture is leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, endangering public health.
“NOAA Fisheries recently emphasized the importance of distinguishing the premium attributes of U.S. wild-caught shrimp for the economic security of the U.S. shrimp industry. Marketing is only viable if enforcement agencies ensure that the labeling and advertising of imported shrimp are accurate, allowing consumers to make informed decisions,” said Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We welcome a court review of the responsibility claims made by Aqua Star about shrimp sourced from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.”
What Are Human Rights and Consumer Protection Groups Seeking
CAL and Toxin Free USA are seeking injunctive relief to enjoin Aqua Star from using the challenged marketing practices and to declare its conduct a violation of the CPPA.
This complaint follows CAL’s November 2024 petition to the Federal Trade Commission seeking an investigation to halt false and misleading claims made by the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification scheme, whose certified shrimp operations were indistinguishable from non-certified producers.This case alleges Seafood Forever™ follows the same model: a responsibility program that offers consumers false assurances while the underlying supply chain benefits from exploitation and environmental shortcuts.
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