Why My Shrimp Consumption Has Gone Way Down

I tend to separate my politics from my eating but I recently read an article that has already led me to significantly cut down my shrimp consumption and I thought others might find the topic of interest.

The short version is this: About 30% of shrimp in the U.S. is imported from Thailand. The shrimp industry in Thailand is built on slave labor. Not "slave" as in a way of describing really bad treatment of workers but "slave" as in people are bought and sold, forced to work, and many are beaten and/or killed when they resist or become ill.

The longer version can easily be found via Google but I'll provide some information and links here. Slavery in the Thai fishing industry first became a big story in the summer of 2014 when U.S. State Department issued this report (see p. 372). However, that report didn't single out shrimping other than mentioning that two people were found guilty of using the forced labor of 73 people in a shrimp-peeling factory.

Also last summer, The Guardian newspaper reported its findings from a 6-month investigation and talked about the shrimp industry in detail:

Men who have managed to escape from boats supplying CP Foods and other companies like it told the Guardian of horrific conditions, including 20-hour shifts, regular beatings, torture and execution-style killings. Some were at sea for years; some were regularly offered methamphetamines to keep them going. Some had seen fellow slaves murdered in front of them.

There are links at the bottom of the article to a number of others based on the same long investigation.

I first learned about this issue last month when I saw this article on Civil Eats. Some key details:

1) There are 300,000 shrimp workers in Thailand, 90% of whom are immigrants.
2) The going price for a human being in Thai fishing ports ranges between $375 and $960.
3) Shrimp slaves are fed as little as one bowl of rice a day, are forced to work for 18-hour shifts, and often endure beatings—or worse.

According to this academic paper by an economics PhD student and an economics professor about "U.S. Demand for Imported Shrimp," from January 1999 through December 2012, 31.57% of all imported shrimp in the U.S. came from Thailand. Given that, according to the same report, 93% of shrimp in the U.S. is imported, so Thai shrimp make up a huge proportion of shrimp in this country.

We all make statements every time we spend money whether intentionally or not. When we pay for something, we are supporting every link in the chain that brought us that particular good. Some of us don't worry about it at all and some worry about it with each and every purchase we make, but I think the overwhelming majority fall somewhere in the middle. For me, who leans towards the "don't worry" end of the spectrum, this particular issue was one I couldn't rationalize a way out of changing my behavior. From the Civil Eats article:

Steve Trent, the executive director of Britain’s Environmental Justice Foundation, described a multi-billion-dollar [Thai shrimp] industry with a financial model that would not be viable without slave labor. “It’s the most horrific situation I have seen in more than 25 years of monitoring human rights abuses around the world,” he said.

Damn. Absolutely chilling.

=R=

Horrible.

In general, buying seafood feels like the biggest grocery crapshoot of them all. My general policy has been to avoid buying "low-priced" seafood--which tends to nix seafood from Asian countries--but I know that this isn't helpful for all. Lately Ive been buying Trader Joe's Argentinian red shrimp, which taste excellent. I wonder how awful those are.

I only purchase shrimp fished from the Gulf of Mexico or off the Mexican Pacific waters and have done so for over 5 years now.
My reasons are quality and food safety.
Thai shrimp and most farmed product is mushy.
I also don't believe these third world governments have safety regulations in place to assure a safe product on a number of aspects
A few years ago the price differential was huge but from what I understand, a supply problem from Asia due to shrimp mortality at farms caused a significant price increase about 2 years ago that has not abated.
So Asian shrimp can now be found in the sub $10/#depending on size whereas before $3-4/# was the norm.
Gulf and Mexican fished shrimp can be found at Fresh Farms but are in the $15 to $18 per pound range.
But I certainly don't want to support slavery and sub standard working conditions also.
Since most of the shrimp from Asia in question is farmed, I don't see the connection to slavery on fishing vessels?
-Dick

Not sure if they still do it, but Fresh Market used to run sales on wild Gulf shrimp a few times a year. Size was about 21-25 for $10/lb. i used to ask them to get the big bags of still frozen from the back and stock up. I never buy Asian shrimp.

Thank you for sharing this. I agree, chilling-- I haven't been buying shrimp because my husband had objections to shrimp harvesting methods-- looks like it's even worse than we thought. Can't wait for my Alaskan spot prawns from Sitka Seafood Shares.

Pie-love wrote:Thank you for sharing this. I agree, chilling-- I haven't been buying shrimp because my husband had objections to shrimp harvesting methods-- looks like it's even worse than we thought. Can't wait for my Alaskan spot prawns from Sitka Seafood Shares.

Second on Sitka. We're really excited to participate in their CSA.

budrichard wrote:Since most of the shrimp from Asia in question is farmed, I don't see the connection to slavery on fishing vessels?

From the Guardian article that MarlaCollins'Husband linked: "The investigation found that the world's largest prawn farmer, the Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, buys fishmeal, which it feeds to its farmed prawns, from some suppliers that own, operate or buy from fishing boats manned with slaves."

Thanks for highlighting this is issue. Luckily it is pretty easy to find properly raised and harvested shrimp and thus avoid supporting this market.

Hi- I don't know if it is still on sale, but supposedly Meijer's has been having frozen red shrimp from Argentina on sale for $12.99 for a two pound bag. I am sure once lent is over, the price will skyrocket. I'd also be interested to see if this is a better option than shrimp from Thailand.

I know when you go to the grocery stores in New Orleans, you find both locally caught craw fish, and craw fish from China. Supposedly there is not nearly enough locally caught craw fish to meet the demand there. I personally don't know how safe Louisiana craw fish is anyway. About the only seafood I have been buying lately is salmon from Alaska. Even with that it is hard to find affordable salmon that is not processed in China. Thanks, Nancy

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I wasn't at all aware of this, but it adds to my list of reasons to avoid buying any kind of seafood from China or southeast Asia, for a variety of reasons, including those budrichard mentioned. When it comes to shrimp and crawfish in particular, I prefer to buy only products from the Gulf of Mexico and don't mind waiting until I find them.

At Fresh Farms the Gulf shrimp, pale pink, come IQF in 5# bags, the Mexican shrimp in 5# blocks.
Ask and they will get whatever shrimp you want in those quantities stiil frozen.
I discern no objective differences once cleaned and cooked between the two.
As to safety, we have been eating Fresh Louisiana crawfish for decades., no problems.
I would not eat any crawfish tails from China.
H Mart has become our supplier for live when in stock but they are on the average smaller than I like.
The best are larger shipped to an airport near you for pickup in large quantities for a 'boil'.-Dick

Thank you for the information. I am obsessively concerned about sourcing, and for some time now, I have purchased only head-on shrimp in shell. Like you, I have concerns over seafood processing plants. I also do not like the fact that many seafoods are frozen after catching, thawed, processed, then refrozen for export. So I buy shrimp and squid whole and unprocessed.

I like to fry the shrimp heads or use the shells/heads to make stock.

Cyriaco wrote:Thank you for the information. I am obsessively concerned about sourcing, and for some time now, I have purchased only head-on shrimp in shell. Like you, I have concerns over seafood processing plants. I also do not like the fact that many seafoods are frozen after catching, thawed, processed, then refrozen for export. So I buy shrimp and squid whole and unprocessed.

I like to fry the shrimp heads or use the shells/heads to make stock.

I share the same obsessive concern about sourcing!
Even though the heads are off, These shrimp that Fresh Farms is currently selling are the best in terms of safety and quality that I can find.
When I do purchase whole shrimp, I use a very light coating of either Tempura(soda water batter) or cornstarch, fry in peanut oil and shrimp head is on the menu.
Grash's in Milwaukee sells a Jumbo never frozen Florida shrimp, headless but last time i purchased, they were $30/#. Makes quite a shrimp cocktail!-Dick

This is an older article but on the same subject

Sadly this is why I no longer buy or try my best to avoid farmed seafood from Asia

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -consumers

Below is a link to the Action Plan of the President's Task Force on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud -

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/iuu/taskforce.html

Although it comes with a higher price tag, the gulf shrimp from Dirk's Fish in Lincoln Park is miles above anything I've ever bought from standard groceries. No brainer in terms of value for me, and I know how much he cares about sourcing and sustainable fishing. There's also a vendor at Green City Market called Amazing Shrimp. He can't sell directly at the market, but takes orders and delivers twice a week. They take gulf shrimp and breed them sustainably indoors in Indiana, no chemicals, steroids, etc. Very much worth the effort to give these a try, the texture is unbelievable - almost reminding me of lobster tail.

http://www.greencitymarket.org/farmers/farmer.asp?id=92

I'm skeptical that shrimp farm-raised in Indiana can taste like shrimp plucked from the Gulf, even if they share identical genetics. It's a little like comparing a free-roaming Iberian pig raised on acorns and chestnuts with the same pig raised in a pen. (Except the nuts are replaed by whatever organic stuff is flaoting around in the warm, open Gulf.) I've never heard anyone suggest that the documented problems with the farmed shrimps' texture and flavor had anything to do with genetic provenance and always read the criticisms to tie the issues to the evolving and imperfect farming process itself.

All of that said, I don't discount your experience and I'm interested to try these particular bugs from Indiana. Clearly this guy seems to be doing a better job with them than others have. Something's got to be done to make that whole industry more sustainable and humane. 20 years ago I used to drink in a dive frequented by shrimp boat crews in Tampa. Even then (especially then?) it was obviously a very tough way to make a buck and the shrimp were scarce, becoming scarcer. I still love my Key West Pinks and rock shrimp, though.

I call it the "Erin Index". We were in Jackson Mississippi a few years ago and were at a small local, independent fish shack. My daughter, then around 10, orders fried red gulf shrimp. For the life of me she had never had a full shrimp dinner in her life. She ate it all. Since then her attempts to eat such delicious fried shrimp has been disappointing. Somehow she can tell good shrimp from bad. She is like the 'Shrimp Whisperer'. On that same trip, we were in Hammond, LA and I bought a pound of boiled crawfish from a tiny fish shop. We had seen the crawfish farms in Cajun Country (basically flooded rice paddies that breed the tasty critters in time for Lent) and the sight of 'mudbugs' grossed out my girls. However, Erin takes a bite and ate a half a pound and wanted more. She will not eat a crawfish outside of Louisana- but these were farmed raised I'm sure. Moral of the story? I really don't know but the more local, less processed and fresh the better. The Cajuns really know how to raise and boil crawfish and gulf shrimp is awesome.

Sometimes, the quest for Gulf shrimp don't work out too good.

A buddy of mine and I determined, after much research, that Grand Isle LA was your basic headquarters for shrimping. So, what else to do but head for Grand Isle. We got there, and no shrimp. I mean, no restaurants; there were wholesale places, party boats, all of that, but no shrimp to eat. We finally ended up at Cigar's Marina, in a tiny diner, eating battered frozen shrimp. One of the huge disappointments of my life, I must say.

Any advice as to what I should do next time??

Geo

edited once for clarity

Thailand faces possible EU fish ban. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32408453

I think I found my new shrimp. I don't see Gulf of Mexico shrimp very often in my usual stores, so it caught my attention to see Paul Piazza Gulf shrimp at the nearby Mariano's (Milwaukee Avenue in Vernon Hills) today. The bags were $15.99 for 16-20 and $14.99 for 21-30, if I recall correctly, for raw, shell-on, headless frozen shrimp. Pricewise, they were not much more than the shrimp from Indonesia. The bags are clear and the shrimp looked very good.

They were not big bags, 1 lb, I think, which is a nice change from the Gulf shrimp I used to see at Dominick's, once in a blue moon---a good product at a good price per pound but the bags were at least 3 pounds, I think.

The current issue of Consumer Reports has an extensive article on frozen shrimp.
The issue reports that CR spent almost $500KUSD on shrimp and testing.
I skimmed the article but overall summary is that USA shrimp is the best.
Read for yourself but I feel more than vindicated by my less than objective conclusions about shrimp sourcing.-Dick

Lets report on where we can buy this shrimp, in addition to what is posted here. I will see about Marianos. What about whole foods?

toria wrote:Lets report on where we can buy this shrimp, in addition to what is posted here. I will see about Marianos. What about whole foods?

Seems Rubino's the wholesaler on Lake St downtown lists it in many portions and sizes on their website:

http://rubinosseafood.com/rubinos-seafo ... ulf_Shrimp

Wonder if there's a way to inquire with their sales department to source the retail places to find it. Bet they can easily do it if they wanted to.

toria wrote:Lets report on where we can buy this shrimp, in addition to what is posted here. I will see about Marianos. What about whole foods?

If you read my original Post in this Thread you will find my opinion on the best place to purchase this type of shrimp,
Fresh Farms on Touhy.
Fresh Farms has both Gulf and Mexican wild caught shrimp in a decent size.
I purchase both in 5 # packs and after cooking they are about the same in quality, excellent. You can get lessor amounts.
-Richard

Just read this NY Times American shrimp article. Good info and things I didn't know about American Shrimp:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/dinin ... hrimp.html

I'm going to assume the shrimp from Costco (which is labelled as coming from Vietnam) falls into the same category as the shrimp from Thailand?

I see Vietnam to Thailand the same way I do Berwyn to Cicero.

The folks who farm shrimp in Indiana (which I was served at Elizabeth's) had a booth this past Thursday at the Daley Center farmer's market.