Countering the deceptive marketing of farm-raised imported shrimp as local, U.S. wild-caught shrimp is a priority issue for the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA). This week’s announcement of test results for restaurants in the Charleston area—an eye-opening 90% of which were falsely advertised—represents a milestone in SSA’s campaign. SSA has now funded testing of more than 300 restaurants across all eight warmwater shrimp states. The results of this broad testing establish that there is a pervasive problem of false advertising, seafood substitution, and economic fraud. The studies have shocked consumers, raised awareness regarding the importance of asking for U.S. wild-caught shrimp, and supported local campaigns to institute and enforce state seafood labeling laws.
Combined with additional testing commissioned by the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force, several trends are emerging:
1. Buyer Beware. The problems of false advertising and mislabeling of shrimp in restaurants are widespread. Consumers have been routinely led to believe that they are being offered wild-caught domestic shrimp in restaurants when cheap foreign farm-raised shrimp is being substituted. Transparency is crucial for public health, ethical sourcing, and thriving local economies.
2. Economic Harm. Consumers want high-quality U.S. wild-caught shrimp, which command a premium price. Honest restaurants and U.S. shrimpers lose value and sales when the majority of the market incorrectly implies or outright states that shrimp is high-quality U.S. shrimp, when in fact it is a cheaper, farm-raised import.
- SeaD Consulting reports that the price of shrimp dishes, when marketed as Gulf shrimp throughout the five Louisiana restaurant markets tested to date, commands a higher price per plate than shrimp dishes marked as imported shrimp.
- SeaD Consulting has been conducting economic analysis based on the growing dataset, which may be used to support further local campaigns for state legislation, enforcement under existing laws, and consumer action.
3. Killing the Golden Goose. Restaurants do not market foreign, farm-raised shrimp. Ponds are not the imagery used to sell shrimp on menus; shrimp boats and shrimpers are. Because the substitution of imports for domestic shrimp in restaurants is putting commercial fishermen out of business, restaurants are ultimately harming their own ability to sell shrimp.
4. Seafood Labeling Laws are Effective. There is a striking reduction in the amount of false marketing of shrimp in Louisiana and Alabama, where seafood labeling laws are in effect, compared to markets in Mississippi and Texas, where state laws were recently adopted, and in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina where no such laws exist.
- 80% of sampled shrimp dishes served in states without state laws were falsely advertised. Tampa, Florida (96%) and Charleston, South Carolina (90%) were the least accurate markets. These two states have also not adopted labeling or disclosure rules for seafood sold in restaurants.
- The inauthenticity rate drops to an average of 34% in states with restaurant seafood labeling laws. This demonstrates the effectiveness of such laws with enforcement provisions.
After working with the FTC on new restaurant guidance regarding the false advertising of seafood, SSA finds great value in SeaD Consulting’s testing to address the problem of false advertising that is displacing U.S. shrimpers from the market. In 2025, the test results have buoyed local efforts to obtain labeling legislation and improve enforcement of existing laws.
- Texas passed a law prohibiting the false marketing of imported shrimp in restaurants
- Mississippi amended its law to require disclosure of whether seafood offered for sale at retail and in food service establishments is imported or domestic.
- Additionally, it generated significant momentum for a proposed Georgia law, which passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 165 to 7.
Next Steps
Having completed testing in all eight shrimp-producing states, SSA will expand the program to additional markets, bringing the issue to the forefront for more consumers, legislators, and regulators. In addition, SSA has previously announced the intention to return to previous markets to determine if restaurants have changed their practices to either source domestic shrimp or add transparency to their marketing.
See the tested restaurants serving genuine U.S. wild-caught shrimp