February 21, 2025 — When it comes to seafood, people want the real deal – not some fishy bait-and-switch.
But in the billion-dollar shrimp industry, it turns out diners might not be getting what they paid for: Eateries offering imported shrimp disguised as locally caught delicacies.
David Williams, founder of Houston-based food safety tech company SeaD Consulting, has spent years diving into the murky waters of seafood sourcing. His team’s research kept surfacing the same troubling question:
Do consumers really know where their shrimp come from?
“Why would you want to be lied to?” Williams said. After all, no one orders a plate of shrimp expecting a side of deception.
Here’s why it matters: The seafood industry is swimming with imported shrimp, often from farms abroad that may use antibiotics and questionable practices banned here in the states. But restaurants aren’t always upfront about what they’re serving (sometimes even they don’t know), leaving diners in the dark about what’s really on their plates. And it takes business away from U.S. shrimpers.
So in 2022, Williams took his concerns to Florida State University assistant professor Prashant Singh, hoping to crack the case of the sneaky shrimp swap.