Shrimp testing reveals imported fish at South Carolina restaurants. 5 things to know

Genetic testing of shrimp at 66 restaurants in Charleston and Myrtle Beach found only 16 were serving authentic American wild-caught shrimp. The rest were selling farm-raised imports, according to testing by SeaD Consulting on behalf of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

FULL STORIES: Shrimp testing of 44 Myrtle Beach restaurants finds 75% serving imports. Here’s who wasn’t

Shrimp at 22 SC restaurants were tested. Only these 5 were selling the real deal

Here are key takeaways:

• SeaD Consulting conducted the Myrtle Beach genetic testing Feb. 6-10 by ordering dishes from 44 restaurants described as “local” or using geographic terms like “inlet caught.” Results showed 11 serving authentic American wild-caught shrimp. The group does not name restaurants caught selling imports, but does share results with local health departments.

• SeaD Consulting also did a retest of 22 Charleston restaurants on Feb. 10-11, half of the 44 restaurants tested by the group last year. The group found five, or 23%, serving wild-caught shrimp. That’s a slight improvement from last year, when just 4 of 44 Charleston restaurants, or 9%, passed.

• A South Carolina bill requiring country-of-origin labeling of shrimp on restaurant menus is moving forward in the state House of Representatives. Five other southern shrimping states have already passed similar laws.

• The South Carolina Shrimpers Association sued 40 Charleston-area restaurants in federal court last year, accusing them of advertising local seafood while serving foreign shrimp.

• SeaD Consulting founder Dave Williams said the effort isn’t adversarial. “We’re not at war with restaurants or anything like that,” he said. “We’re just trying to show a situation that needs to be corrected through legislation or something similar.”

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full stories in the links at top were reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.