90% of shrimp is imported. You can change that.
Shrimp is America's favorite seafood and some of the best is caught in North Carolina, but more than 90% of the shrimp eaten in the United States is imported from some 50 countries around the world. Just recently, the Food and Drug Administration recalled frozen shrimp that was found to be contaminated with dangerous listeria, a bacteria that causes one of the most serious types of food poisoning.
You can help keep fresh, local shrimp available in North Carolina by speaking up at the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission meeting Nov. 17-19 at Islander Hotel in Emerald Isle. This is your opportunity to support the top-quality N.C. shrimp you love to buy at seafood markets and roadside stands. The commission will consider closing most waters in North Carolina to shrimp trawling during its upcoming meetings. The move would greatly diminish the amount of local shrimp at your favorite markets and likely increase shrimp prices.
LEARN MORE about the impacts of this closure.
Fishermen just learned of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recommendations to prohibit shrimp trawling in more state waters. The recommendations were released on November 2, only two weeks prior to the upcoming Marine Fisheries Commission meeting. If new rules are approved, many small-boat operators would lose their jobs; many wholesalers and retailers who sell local shrimp would lose essential income; and a huge part of N.C. coastal culture would be lost. That beautiful shrimp in the photo above? It's from Davis Seafood in Sneads Ferry, near Topsail Island, N.C. The Davis family has been fishing for a living off Sneads Ferry since the 1800s.
HOW TO HELP: Sign up to speak up for your shrimp.
Half of North Carolina’s commercial fishing families are gone. The few hundred left are fighting to keep bringing you the fresh, local seafood you love. They need your help.
Write a letter: Tell the Marine Fisheries Commission what you think.
You may also attend the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting to hear the panel's discussion. Shrimp rules are on the agenda at 1:15 p.m. on November 18.
