Southern Shrimp Alliance Grateful for Administration’s Unprecedented Stand
American shrimpers are spotlighting the U.S. Treasury Department’s landmark vote against an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project to fund $150 million in Thai shrimp production. This marks the first time in history that the United States has opposed a shrimp aquaculture project at an international financial institution.
Although the project moved forward over U.S. objections, the Southern Shrimp Alliance is deeply grateful to the Trump Administration and the U.S. executive director to the ADB for taking this historic stand. The deal with Thai Union Public Company Limited’s (Thai Union) threatens to flood U.S. markets with even more cheap imported shrimp after import volumes reached record highs in 2025. Previously, the U.S. Treasury had supported international financial institutions (IFIs) in financing billions of dollars for shrimp farming projects abroad, flooding the global market with excess shrimp supply and driving down prices received by U.S. shrimpers.
“It is infuriating to learn that while American shrimp boats from Texas to North Carolina have been tied up at the dock since 2023, international development banks are using U.S. taxpayer money to help international conglomerates like Thai Union produce and export more farmed shrimp,” said Blake Price, deputy director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “On behalf of everyone in the U.S. shrimp industry, the Southern Shrimp Alliance applauds the Treasury Department for finally saying enough is enough and opposing the ADB’s efforts to add to the overabundance of cheap farmed shrimp in global markets.”
Harm Not Just to American Shrimpers, But Shrimp Harvesters Everywhere
The American shrimp industry strongly objects to IFIs encouraging increased production in a global market already drowning in oversupply. Without market demand for more farmed shrimp, the IFI funding undermines existing investment in wild-caught and aquacultured shrimp production throughout the world, harming all shrimp harvesters.
Despite this global shrimp crisis, the ADB announced in May 2025 that it would finance Thai Union’s expansion.
The financing agreement aims to help Thai Union enhance sustainability, as defined as certification under programs such as Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). However, the industry-run BAP certification program is deeply flawed. It is designed to provide greater market access for farmed seafood by certifying products as safe, responsible, and ethically farmed. Yet in a three-year study of India’s shrimp industry, Corporate Accountability Lab found BAP-certified shrimp production processes are rife with labor and environmental abuses, labeling BAP as a “marketing scheme.” With the Corporate Accountability Lab, the Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission in November 2024, requesting action against false or deceptive practices by the BAP certification scheme. And in 2025, most imported shrimp entry lines rejected by the FDA for veterinary drug residues and radioactive contamination came from BAP-certified facilities.
SSA’s Research Supports Administration Action
The Southern Shrimp Alliance’s research and analysis demonstrate that IFI projects use U.S. taxpayer funds to support foreign competitors, which harm American shrimp producers by encouraging production in an oversupplied global market.
The Trump Administration recognizes that IFI projects require oversight and opposes ill-conceived initiatives that injure U.S. producers. Treasury officials recently issued public reports on U.S. voting records through August 2025. On April 16, 2025, the U.S. executive director to the ADB voted against the Thai Union agreement, citing “trade policy and reputational concerns.”
Despite the project moving forward, the Southern Shrimp Alliance is grateful for this historic vote, which establishes an important precedent and demonstrates that the Administration recognizes the harm these taxpayer-funded projects inflict on American shrimpers.