South Atlantic Archives - Page 2 of 125

GEORGIA: Georgia lawmakers approve bill requiring restaurants to label imported shrimp

February 21, 2025 — State lawmakers from the U.S. state of Georgia have passed a bill that would require restaurants to clearly note on their menus if the shrimp they are serving is imported.

“It is time we support our domestic shrimpers and ensure that consumers know what they are eating,” Representative Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) said upon introducing the legislation in January. “Only 5 percent of imported foods are inspected, and shrimp from Thailand, China, India, and Ecuador primarily are often pond-raised in unsanitary environments. I believe this measure will give consumers the knowledge they need to request domestic and, hopefully, Georgia wild shrimp.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FLORIDA: 96% of Tampa Bay area restaurants imply they serve local shrimp while serving imported shrimp

January 31, 2025 — A new report said shrimp consumers in the Tampa Bay area are being misled as most of the restaurants evaluated say they serve local shrimp but don’t.

The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which is an organization of shrimp fisherman, processors and other members of the industry, said only two of the 44 restaurants sampled in Tampa and St. Petersburg are selling Gulf Shrimp as implied.

A food safety tech company called SeaD Consulting collected the shellfish from the restaurants for testing. The company uses genetic testing to monitor fraud in the seafood industry.

The only two restaurants found to be serving locally caught shrimp were Tampa’s Salt Shack on the Bay and St. Pete’s Stillwaters Tavern, according to a news release.

The other food establishments use farm-raised shrimp from countries like India, Vietnam and Ecuador, according to SeaD’s research.

“When diners think of Tampa and St. Pete, they think of seafood fresh from the Gulf,” said David Williams, Commercial Fishery Scientist and Founder of SEAD Consulting, who led the sampling effort. “To discover that the majority of restaurants are serving shrimp sourced from overseas is a wake-up call for the area’s food scene.”

Read the full article at WTSP

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial fishers search for lost fishing gear

January 31, 2025 — This January, the North Carolina Coastal Federation kicked off its 11th annual Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, enlisting the support of 20 dedicated commercial fishermen and women. This initiative aims to locate and remove displaced and potentially dangerous fishing gear along the northern and central coast, noted a news release from NCCF.

“Throughout the month, crews will diligently search designated areas to recover lost crab pots, which pose serious threats to boaters, wildlife, and the fishing community,” stated the release.

Read the full article at the The Coastland Times

FLORIDA: Tampa Bay area seafood restaurants found mislabeling shrimp

January 28, 2025 — Tampa and St. Petersburg are facing a startling revelation with only two out of 44 sampled restaurants serve authentic, wild-caught Gulf shrimp.

A recent investigation, led by SeaD Consulting, exposes a 96% fraud rate, with most establishments relying on imported, farm-raised shrimp from countries like India, Vietnam and Ecuador.

The investigation identified just two restaurants as serving genuine Gulf shrimp, putting into question the region’s seafood reputation.

“When diners think of Tampa and St. Pete, they think of seafood fresh from the Gulf,” said David Williams, a commercial fishery scientist and founder of SeaD Consulting, in a news release. “To discover that the majority of restaurants are serving shrimp sourced from overseas is a wake-up call for the area’s food scene.”

Read the full article at The Center Square

Fishermen push for better red snapper management

January 28, 2025 — Red snapper populations in the South Atlantic are once again a topic of heated debate, with potential implications for the commercial fishing industry.

While recreational anglers and policymakers often dominate the region, the concerns of commercial harvesters, who depend on sustainable stocks for their livelihoods, must not be overlooked.

Recent legislative efforts, including introducing the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count Act, aim to reassess population data for red snapper in the region. The act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, Maria Elvira Salazar, and Austin Scott, seeks to address discrepancies between current stock assessments and anecdotal reports from fishermen. According to The St. Augustine Record, the bill is rooted in concerns that existing data underrepresents red snapper abundance, potentially restricting fishing opportunities unnecessarily.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

FLORDIA: Along Gulf Coast, Donald Trump’s plan for ‘Gulf of America’ touches residents’ pride; some wonder what difference will it make

January 24, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico has left residents along the Gulf Coast sharply divided. Some say it awakens their pride in the U.S. while others suggest it’s a silly distraction.

The order, which Trump signed Monday night, his first day in office, directs the Secretary of the Interior Department to take all the needed steps to change the name to “Gulf of America” within 30 days.

The order says in part that the Gulf plays “a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has already embraced the change. He cited the new name in an executive order earlier this week attributing inclement Winter weather to a “low pressure moving across the Gulf of America.”

Cedar Key, a quaint fishing town in Levy County, is a cluster of islands that extend about three miles into the Gulf of Mexico from Florida’s mainland. One resident for more than a decade, 78-year-old Air Force retiree Thomas McKee, said he sees no reason for changing the name.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

FLORDIA: US lawmakers from Florida want to keep NOAA from shutting down Atlantic red snapper season

January 24, 2025 — Two Florida Congressmen — a Republican and a Democrat — and the state’s now-senior U.S. senator want to throw a bone to red snapper anglers off the Atlantic coast.

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Jacksonville, Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, and Republican Sen. Rick Scott have introduced the Red Snapper Act to stop the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from “unilaterally closing the red snapper fishery in the South Atlantic until reliable and accurate data” is gathered from an independent study entitled the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count.

According to a news release from Rutherford’s office, over the past decade, charter captains, anglers and businesses have successfully replaced the red snapper stock.

Rutherford described last summer’s one-day season of red snapper fishing as “a confounding, ridiculous, draconian measure that greatly affected local economies and livelihoods,” including in St. Augustine.

“Anglers are seeing more red snapper off the coast of Northeast Florida than ever before,” he said in the release. “Widespread bottom closures that threaten Northeast Florida’s fishing economy are not the answer. Accurate data that helps produce informed policy is.”

Read the full article at the St. Augustine Record

NORTH CAROLINA: Trump moves to curb wind farms, part of North Carolina’s clean energy plan

January 22, 2025 — The fate of North Carolina’s offshore wind farms, both active and planned, is in question after President Donald Trump took executive action to halt offshore wind energy production on his first day in office.

The order halts offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and prohibits new or renewed permits, leases, and loans for wind energy projects, both onshore and offshore. The sweeping action has drawn sharp criticism from clean energy advocates in North Carolina, where offshore wind was poised to play a significant role in the energy transition.

It was one of dozens of executive orders signed Monday by Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House after a four-year absence. Trump signed other executive orders related to climate, too, removing the U.S. from the Paris Climate treaty and pushing back on Biden-era mandates on electric vehicles.

“We’re not going to do the wind thing,” Trump said during an event at Capital One Arena on Monday hours after being sworn in.

The Biden Administration approved 11 commercial-scale offshore wind projects in the past four years.

Trump is a proponent of expanded drilling for oil and fracking. He said Monday that the U.S. has more oil and gas than any other nation.

Read the full article at WRAL

US lawmakers move to block NOAA Fisheries from closing red snapper fishery

January 21, 2025 — Federal lawmakers from the U.S. state of Florida have introduced legislation to block NOAA Fisheries from closing the recreational South Atlantic red snapper fishery for three months of the year.

“Florida’s fishing industry is a multi-billion dollar economic driver in our state, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and attracting visitors to communities along our coast,” U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) said in a statement. “We’ve made great strides in Florida to ensure our natural resources are preserved and protected for years to come, including rebuilding the Red Snapper population. I’m proud to work with [U.S. Representative John Rutherford (R-Florida)] on the Red Snapper Act to support our state’s commercial and recreational fishing industry and ensure their success isn’t limited by federal government’s outdated data and regulations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New taxes are coming for imported shrimp. SC shrimpers say it’s about time.

December 3, 2024 — South Carolina shrimpers will begin to feel some relief from the pressures of cheap, imported frozen shrimp.

The U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce will impose added taxes on the seafood product that’s flooded the market in recent years.

For shrimpers, it’s a welcome reprieve from the years of price gouging that’s run many fishermen out of business.

For consumers, it can mean higher prices on the frozen warmwater shrimp commonly found at grocery stores like Walmart and Costco.

The influx of imported frozen shrimp and unfair trade practices have injured the domestic shrimping industry, the United States International Trade Commission ruled in November.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier

News for the South Atlantic Region