Highlights of SSA's work on behalf of the U.S. shrimp industry
Table of Contents
Fighting Forced Labor
Reports: The Majority of Global Shrimp Aquaculture Production Uses Labor Exploitation
The Southern Shrimp Alliance is strongly committed to eradicating child labor and forced labor from the global shrimp industry. Unfortunately, these exploitative practices are prevalent in the countries that supply the largest volumes of cheap shrimp to the U.S. market. In the third quarter of 2024, multiple reports highlighted a disconnect between supermarkets’ claims of using sustainable and ethically produced shrimp and their procurement practices that fail to cover the cost of production.
SSA maintains a database of government and NGO reports on forced labor and other government compliance tools on its website to aid companies, government officials, and reporters in addressing forced labor in shrimp supply chains.
Learn more about SSA’s recent work to address labor abuses in shrimp supply chains:
Regulatory Engagement
SSA Criticizes Offshore Wind Energy Development Proposal
An unsolicited proposal from Hecate Energy Gulf Wind for two commercial leases for wind energy development off the coast of Texas has raised significant new concerns for the U.S. shrimp industry. SSA has submitted comments about the Hecate proposal, which may potentially support hydrogen production, has the potential to close fishing grounds, interrupt maritime radar, and harm sensitive species and habitats for which shrimpers are held accountable under federal statutes. For the past three years, SSA has collaborated constructively to deconflict offshore wind energy development with the U.S. shrimp industry with great success.
Utilizing Trade Laws
FTC Takes Aim at Misleading Advertising of Shrimp in Restaurants
After years of engagement and advocacy, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has agreed with the SSA’s arguments that restaurant décor can be deceptive acts or practices prohibited by Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 45. Previously, the FTC had asserted that this was a local issue that did not warrant federal regulatory action.
In a significant move to protect consumers and support U.S. fisheries, the FTC issued new guidance to the restaurant industry that clearly explains that it is illegal to use decorations, menus, and social media to mislead customers about the origin of seafood served in the restaurant. FTC Commissioner Bedoya then issued letters to the ten highest-grossing seafood restaurant chains in the country about the guidance, stating that the Commissioner will not hesitate to request an investigation if presented with credible evidence of a law violation.
Vietnam Remains a Non-Market Economy
After almost a year of investigation, the Department of Commerce determined that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam continues to be a non-market economy for the purposes of the antidumping duty laws. At risk was how the Department of Commerce would calculate antidumping duties on products, including shrimp, from Vietnam. While it seems obvious that a country governed under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam and enforces laws that prohibit the private ownership of land fails to act like a market economy, the finding resolves a debate that could have had grave ramifications for trade actions against unfairly-traded Vietnamese shrimp.
Shrimp Imports that Harm Sea Turtles Should Be Banned
The Port Arthur Area Shrimpers’ Association (“PAASA”) and SSA jointly requested that the U.S. Department of State re-visit and suspend the certifications granted to Peru and Guatemala under the Section 609 program, which is intended to ensure that shrimp harvested in a manner that harms endangered sea turtles is not imported into the United States. Under the program, the State Department, working with officials from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) Fisheries, certifies countries and/or individual fisheries as being in compliance with Section 609’s requirements and, therefore, eligible to supply the U.S. market with shrimp. In their request, PAASA and SSA also documented that large volumes of wild-caught shrimp continue to be imported into the United States from countries that are not certified under the Section 609 program, in violation of that law.
Industry Enhancement
Monitoring BAP-Certified Shrimp for Safety
SSA analysis shows that 87% of shrimp entry lines refused by the FDA in 2024 for antibiotic contamination originated from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified facilities. Despite testing only 0.1% of imports for banned antibiotics, the FDA refused 71 entry lines of adulterated shrimp between January and September 2024, of which 62 were attributed to BAP-certified shippers. A total of 17 exporters were responsible for the antibiotic-contaminated shrimp, of which 14 companies currently operate under a BAP certification. Eight of these BAP-certified shippers are located in India, two in Vietnam, and one each in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, and Thailand.
In September, the Sustainability Incubator found that only one-tenth of one percent of the shrimp farms from Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Ecuador are currently certified by either the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (234) or the Best Aquaculture Practices (1802). “With the yield from most certified shrimp farms being very small, it is mathematically impossible for certified farms to produce enough shrimp per month to supply all of the supermarkets that boast commitments to purchasing certified shrimp.”
This furthers earlier criticism from Corporate Accountability Lab that the BAP certification program “as little more than marketing ploys that fail to protect workers or the environment” and the Outlaw Ocean Project that produced thousands of pages of internal documentation supporting antibiotic and labor violations at Choice Canning.
Legislative Initiatives
U.S. Taxpayers Should Not Fund Shrimp Aquaculture Development
U.S. law prohibits using U.S. funds to support surplus production of commodities which harms U.S. producers (22 USC 262h). However, overseas shrimp aquaculture projects are regularly funded to the detriment of domestic shrimpers through Multilateral Development Institutions, like the World Bank, using U.S. taxpayers’ money. SSA added to its website a database of all U.S. Treasury votes on multilateral development projects to help users verify compliance with U.S. law and more readily identify shifting trends in shrimp financing to new countries, regions, or methods.
In April, Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX) and 13 bipartisan co-sponsors introduced the Save Our Shrimpers Act to prohibit U.S. taxpayer funds from being used by international financial institutions to finance any activity relating to shrimp farming, the processing of shrimp, or shrimp exports in a foreign country. It also mandates an investigation and annual report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on whether U.S. Executive Directors at various international financial institutions have complied with their responsibility to oppose such financing.