A reporter stopped on the boat my husband works on while they were making repairs before this trip. I thought I would share the article he wrote from interviewing my husband, his cousin and his brother.

Pond Raised Shrimp Threaten Family Business

 

Brandy, I just found this out about pond-raised shrimp last week after seeing a TV commercial for it.  I wonder why someone didn't think of that before?  I just assumed all shrimp was here from the states.

Since they only have to throw in a few U.S. shrimp to call it that, is there a specific stamp or phrase we can look for in order to get only U.S.-caught shrimp?  How about in restaurants, do they have to say where their shrimp is from?

Good article and great interview; your guys are well-spoken and are upbeat and optimistic about their livelihood - I like that!  Liz 

It grieved me to read this article. I can totally empathize. My husband was trained in a high skill job. My father also worked in this field as well as his uncle, my great uncle, before him. About twenty years ago, these jobs first went to Portugal, and today, they are almost exclusively in China. Like your husband's profession, my husband's craft is a highly important skill, not only to our personal income, but also to the nation's very foundation. In fact, during WW2, my father could have had a deferment because of this job; it was that important. Today, there are no young people going into this field. My husband's generation was probably the last. It isn't enough to be skilled (which your husband's job is) or a drive to work hard. There is too much stacked against us. There isn't much that we are able to make, do, or work at, that imports couldn't make faster and cheaper. It makes me cry.

 

 

Wow, I knew there was farmed salmon which most people here are against (more diseased etc)  but I didn't know about pond raised shrimp. I guess now thinking about it, shrimp and prawns have been getting cheaper with constant bogo sales in the last couple of years. I hope that changes for your and others families livelyhood.

"Since they only have to throw in a few U.S. shrimp to call it that, is there a specific stamp or phrase we can look for in order to get only U.S.-caught shrimp?"

Not that I am aware of. The only way I know to assure that the shrimp are caught in U.S. waters and fresh is to buy directly from a fisherman.

 

"How about in restaurants, do they have to say where their shrimp is from?"

My daughter works for a resturaunt that specialises in po-boys and seafood. The owner says they get their seafood from a distributor and the packages are stamped "Gulf Shrimp". That's as much as she knows about the seafood she serves.

My husband has been out of this industry for several years because he was not as opptimistic as his cousin. Having our daughter brought my husband in shore. Tighter regulations, a storm that wiped out more than 70% of my husband's equipment then a major break down in a small time span forced my husband into a land job. A job loss and our current economy sent him back out there after 15 years of being on land.

 

What field was it, GiGi?

 

There is actually a shrimp pond near us. He sells his small shrimp for a higher price than my husband's cousins sell medium sized but at least he is pond raising IN the USA.

 

 It's so frustrating to see things like this happen and feel as if our hands are tied when it comes to making any real difference.

I feel on this the way I feel on other things, the only way to see change is to start working on change and making others aware.

 

Oh, Brandy, even more bad news about your situation!  I already pray for he Almighty to protect your husband while he is on the waters, but when I say the words from now on, I'll be thinking about his economic as well as his physical safety.