DNA tests raise questions about Outer Banks shrimp labels
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Half the shrimp marketed as "wild-caught American" at Outer Banks restaurants last month was actually imported, according to genetic testing by SeaD Consulting.
Why it matters: Consumers often pay premium prices at the coast expecting genuine U.S.-caught shrimp, even as cheaper imported shrimp dominates the wider market.
What they're saying: "We just ask that whenever you're at the coast, and you order a plate of American wild-caught shrimp, [that's] what you're actually being served," says Erin Williams, a cofounder of SeaD Consulting.
- "Because if every dish was in fact that product, the industry wouldn't be in the situation it's in," she tells Axios.
Context: In North Carolina, the shrimping industry still wields political power despite being a shell of its former self.
- The state has fewer than 300 commercial shrimpers remaining. They hauled in around $15 million of shrimp in 2024, per Division of Marine Fisheries statistics.
- There were around 1,000 shrimpers working North Carolina's waters in the mid-1990s, the state reported.
By the numbers: SeaD is a technology company that uses genetic testing to monitor fraud in the seafood industry on behalf of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
- In June, scientists DNA-tested shrimp from 22 restaurants advertising wild-caught American shrimp. Only 11 were accurately labeled.
- That's an improvement from December, when 44 restaurants were tested and only 16, or 36%, passed.
The big picture: Shrimp became the most consumed seafood in the U.S. in 2001, according to Mississippi State University researchers. Americans were eating nearly 6 pounds per person in the early 2020s.
- About 94% of shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported, most from farms in Asia and Latin America, the researchers estimate.
- Mislabeled seafood imports have vexed the American seafood industry for decades.
The SeaD report doesn't name the 11 restaurants caught serving imported shrimp.
Yes, but: It does recognize six spots serving genuine wild-caught American shrimp in both rounds of testing:
- Goombays Grille & Raw Bar in Kill Devil Hills.
- Greentail's Seafood Market & Kitchen and Sea Chef Dockside Kitchen in Nags Head.
- O'Neal's Sea Harvest in Wanchese.
- Red Sky Casual Dining & Cocktails in Duck.
- Vicki B's in Manteo.
Wanchese seafood supplier Mark Vrablic credits SeaD's December report with pushing more restaurants to buy local shrimp, adding in a statement that "multigenerational shrimping businesses, like mine, are happy and able to supply these local restaurants year-round."
How it works: How the shrimp in Outer Banks restaurants became mislabeled is "actually quite difficult to identify," David Williams, another SeaD cofounder, tells Axios.
- "I would say the vast majority of the mislabeling happens at [the] restaurant level," he says, because suppliers must comply with strict federal regulations when invoicing. "But you can't be absolutely certain."
State of play: Gulf states like Louisiana and Alabama have laws on the books regulating seafood labeling, but North Carolina does not.
- SeaD argues that needs to change for there to be meaningful progress.
- "The rate of inauthenticity is significantly less" in Louisiana than in states like Florida and North Carolina without similar rules, Erin Williams says.
What's next: State Rep. Celeste Cairns (R-Carteret) released a statement saying she intends to draft legislation next session "to put a stop to the wrongful practice and harmful economic impacts of mislabeling seafood on menus in our state."