Baton Rouge Representative Garret Graves and Florida Representative Kathy Castor introduced bipartisan legislation to stop unsafe illegally produced shrimp from reaching U-S consumers and flooding the market. Graves says foreign shrimp is packed with illegal antibiotics and cannot be allowed to take over our market.
“You got hurricanes. You got illegal shrimp subsidies coming in. You had the BP Oil Spill. Louisiana is the top shrimp producer in the United States. So we’ve got to make sure we preserve this important part of our economy.”
The bill provides funding to the FDA to make sure that shrimp in the U-S are free of illegal chemicals, safe for consumption, and not supplied using illegal fishing practices. Graves says this bill helps level the playing field to make sure foreign-raised shrimp producers play by the rules.
“The shrimp that’s coming that have these illegal chemicals need to be identified. The shrimp product needs to be destroyed and not just shipped to another port where it’s unlikely to be inspected there and it’s about marketing.”
Pushed to the margins by cheap shrimp tainted with harmful chemicals, Graves says Louisiana shrimpers are facing one of the worst years this industry has ever experienced. But he points out shrimping is a part of the Gulf’s culture and is healthier.
“Louisiana shrimp are of higher quality and it’s not farmed. It’s not illegal chemicals and it’s pressured because it’s not coming from Asia or elsewhere. We’ve got to make sure we preserve this.”
The legislation also builds on Graves’s previously successful efforts to give the U-S Department of Agriculture the authority to purchase domestic shrimp to supply schools, food banks, and disaster relief programs.
Comments