A consulting company says it found vendors passing off imported shrimp as Gulf seafood at the recent National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores. Festival organizers have cried foul, saying they are being “targeted” by a company that won’t identify the vendors who allegedly violated its longstanding policies.
The ruckus starts with a company called SeaD Consulting, which made headlines in September when it said it had found widespread use of imported shrimp at the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. SeaD founder Dave Wiliams says the company’s tests can identify shrimp species in two hours, faster than older tests, thus ensuring “that fraudulent practices are caught in real time.”
From the Louisiana event, SeaD followed up by testing shrimp from several vendors at the annual National Shrimp Festival, which was held Oct. 10-13 in Gulf Shores. After the event was over, SeaD reported that it had tested five dishes and that only one, served by Rouses grocery, featured authentic wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp. The others, it said, used imported, farm-raised shrimp.
The company’s statement also contained some heated response from Bayou La Batre, quoting Mayor Henry D. Barnes as saying the findings were a “slap in the face” to local shrimpers hard-hit by use of imported shrimp. And it quoted boat owner and processor Jeremy Zirlott as speculating that Shrimp Fest’s contract clause imposing an initial fine of $500 on vendors who misrepresented their shrimp was something they just threw in after the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival incident.
Shrimp Fest organizers say the latter accusation is false. “We have had our domestic provision in our vendor contracts for years,” Festival Co-Chair Ginny Barnas said in a response released Tuesday by the festival. “There are monetary penalties for violating the contract, and repeat violators can be removed from the Festival.”
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In SeaD’s report, Williams says that maybe the National Shrimp Festival should be called the International Shrimp Festival. Despite such jabs, he’s been widely quoted as saying that “What we’re trying to do is positive.”
However, festival officials said that Williams has put them in a Catch-22 situation by not identifying the supposed bad actors.
“If he refuses to release the alleged violators’ names to us, there’s very little we can do to ensure these vendors are penalized or asked not to come back to our Festival,” said Ryan Moberly, communications director for the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber.
SeaD’s position seems to be that the onus is on events such as the Shrimp Festival to enforce use of domestic shrimp via a testing regimen such as the one it sells: “A key takeaway is, despite a $500 fine for selling imported farm-raised shrimp, enforcement at the Gulf Shores National Shrimp Festival appears to be lacking,” said SeaD’s statement. “This has allowed many vendors to offer foreign shrimp, undermining the festival’s commitment to local seafood and raising concerns about transparency. … Effective monitoring and enforcement of regulations and vendor agreements are essential to maintaining the integrity of such festivals and the entire seafood supply chain.”
“SEAD’s technology has already been instrumental in driving industry change,” said the company’s report. “Williams hopes that testing becomes a standard practice to ensure consumers get what they’re paying for — and to protect the livelihoods of Gulf fishermen.
Most food at the Shrimp Festival is sold by independent traveling vendors. Festival organizers are worried that daily testing for more than two dozen vendors could add up to thousands of dollars in expenses for the volunteer-run event.
In the festival statement, Barnas said she invites Williams and SeaD to come back next year and pitch in.
“We are a volunteer-driven event,” she said. “We have almost 100 volunteers that work year-round on this Festival to make it one of the best festivals around, and hundreds more that volunteer their time during the weekend of the event. If Mr. Williams wants to come down here and volunteer his service and tests for us over four days, we’ll welcome him.”
Williams has said his goal is to defend a way of life and the livelihoods of Gulf fishermen. He’s also indicated he likely will test some Alabama restaurants – though, as before, he’ll be more likely to identify those who pass than those who fail.
“As more festivals and restaurants are put under the microscope, those doing the right thing will be publicly acknowledged, while fraudsters risk being exposed and potentially fined,” he said in the company’s report.
