In and around Southeast Louisiana, many of us like to think we know what shrimp that is wild caught and comes from the Gulf of Mexico tastes like.
In this region where there’s always an emphasis on local products and businesses, there’s a certain pride in buying and eating shrimp that has been harvested by local fishermen and shrimpers. When we order shrimp at a local restaurant, we often assume it originated in the Gulf of Mexico and was caught by Louisiana shrimpers. Acy Cooper says that would be the wrong assumption.
“They’re selling people a lie in New Orleans, and around the state. They’re selling them a lie because it’s all about money,” Cooper said.
Cooper is the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. He says chances are, many local restaurants are serving foreign/imported shrimp and passing it off as Gulf shrimp. Some of that may be unintentional, but Cooper believes the presence and use of foreign shrimp is deliberate. Shrimp imported from countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico tend to be less expensive. If a restaurant or store is looking to maximize its money while maintaining shrimp as an offering, then imported shrimp checks off several business minded boxes. Cooper gets understands the economics of it, but says businesses and restaurants just have to be transparent about it.
“If you’re going to sell imports, be upfront with the person that’s ordering. Be upfront with your customers, let them know if they want to eat it. I’m not telling them not to get it. I’m telling them to tell the truth.
Don’t lie to them,” Cooper said.
Louisiana’s shrimp industry is in a crisis, a deep one according to the men and women who harvest the shrimp which the state of Louisiana has been so proud to promote as its own. The higher cost of fuel combined with the lower prices of imported shrimp is pushing local commercial fishermen and shrimpers to some dangerous margins. They simply can’t make a living, the shrimpers say.
The seemingly growing amount of imported shrimp in the U.S. brings down the overall price of shrimp in the market. Conditions were better in the 1980’s. Cooper reminisces about those days because he was making more money from shrimping back then than he does now. Roughly 20 years ago, the commercial shrimpers in Louisiana numbered around 20,000. Cooper says today, there’s only 5,000. Commercial shrimping has been part of Louisiana’s economy since the 1800’s, but Cooper says we now may be witnessing its disappearance. What can be done to save it? Listen to the podcast here.
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