New Oceana report says some people in this country unknowingly eat shrimp meant to be kept as an aquarium pet

Oct 30, 2014 21:57 GMT  ·  By
Study reveals too many people in the US have no idea where the shrimp they eat comes from
   Study reveals too many people in the US have no idea where the shrimp they eat comes from

A report issued by environmental group Oceana this October 30 says that, as surprising as this may sound, the fact of the matter is that folks in the US are pretty much clueless about where the shrimp they eat comes from.

Thus, it appears that many people feast on allegedly wild-caught shrimp that is actually farmed and that only got to see the inside of a tank before being deep fried, and some unknowingly consume shrimp meant to be kept as an aquarium pet.

Consumers aren't the only ones to blame

Conservation group Oceana says that, as part of their work on this report, members and supporters of the organization tested the DNA of as many as 143 shrimp products obtained from 111 grocery stores and restaurants.

It was thus discovered that, too often, consumers lack access to information concerning the origin of the shrimp they purchase. Besides, about 30% of the shrimp products tested during this investigation were found to be misrepresented.

Specifically, Oceana says that, of the shrimp products tested, many were sold either as wild shrimp or as Gulf shrimp when, in fact, they came from farms. The farmed species most often misrepresented as wild caught or grown in the Gulf was the whiteleg shrimp.

Even more worrying, the environmental group says that, of the 20 shrimp species or categories documented by investigators, 42% were not even known to be sold in the US prior to this study, and that a bag of salad-sized shrimp was found to contain banded coral shrimp meant to be kept as a pet.

The investigation focused on restaurants in New York, Washington DC, the Gulf of Mexico region and Portland. Of the 111 grocery stores and restaurants included in the study, 35% were found to sell misrepresent shrimp.

Commenting on these findings, Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana, wished to stress that “Despite its popularity, US consumers are routinely given little to no information about the shrimp they purchase.”

“We really know very little about the shrimp we eat, and the information we do get may not be trustworthy. Consumers have a right to know more about the shrimp they purchase in order to make more responsible choices,” added report author Dr. Kimberly Warner.

Why care where the shrimp we eat comes from?

Those who've been keeping an eye on the news probably know that, in this day and age, seafood fraud is an issue not just in the US, but also in other corners of the world.

As pointed out by conservationists, having illegally caught fish and seafood enter markets isn't just bad for the economy, but also constitutes a threat to marine biodiversity.

This is because most of this illegally caught fish and seafood comes from fisheries that fail to abide by national and international laws set in place to promote sustainable fishing practices, Oceana and other similar environmental groups explain.

Seeing how marine ecosystems are already threatened by ocean acidification and global warming, conservationists urge that people try to figure out where the shrimp on their plate comes from before sinking their teeth into it.

As conservationist Beth Lowell put it, “Until traceability is the status quo, consumers should ask more questions about the seafood they purchase, including what kind it is, if it is wild or farm-raised, and where and how it was caught.”

Furthermore, “Whenever possible, consumers should also support traceable seafood, which will tell the story of the product while helping to ensure that it is honestly labeled.”