Sustainable Shrimp Supplies
26 June 2008US - The US shrimp fisheries, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic are some of the largest in the country, and yet they provide just 13 per cent of the national consumption.
The other 87 per cent is foreign - either farmed or wild caught, according to the Monterey Bay Aquariums's Sustainable Seafood Initiative and Seafood Watch Program.
The environmental group has raised concerns about the health, safety and environmental impact of farmed shrimp, particularly from Asia.
And it has put farmed and imported wild caught shrimp on its avoid list.
According to a report in Contra Costa Times, while sustainably caught or raised shrimp have been more expensive, than foreign farmed shrimp in the past, now prices of foreign imported shrimp are fluctuating because of transportation costs.
The report also points out that in the past it has been difficult for consumers to know whether shrimp is domestically caught or raised or imported. But now country of origin legislation makes it possible to know where the shrimp comes from.
Speaking in the Monterey Bay Aquariums's Sustainable Seafood Initiative and Seafood Watch Program's newsletter former chef Paul Johnson who runs the Monterey Fish Market said: "The whole sustainable seafood movement has been grassroots and raised peoples' awareness. Now people realize that what you buy has an effect on the oceans."
TheFishSite News Desk
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