After nearly two weeks of protests and strikes by south Louisiana shrimpers facing historically low shrimp prices, the state Attorney General's office on Friday met with industry representatives who have alleged price-fixing and potential mislabeling of Louisiana shrimp.
The meeting with the attorney general's office came a day after shrimpers met with Gov. Bobby Jindal.
In a statement, Jindal said "we're urging the Attorney General to investigate two specific and very serious issues. First, we ask the A.G. to investigate the allegations that Louisiana and foreign shrimp are being mixed and sold under the label of Louisiana Shrimp. Second, we ask the A.G. to investigate allegations of price fixing."
Allegations of price-fixing have been rampant in the shrimp industry for years. Shrimpers this season have said they are being offered between 40 and 75 cents per pound for large shrimp, while the same shrimp at local supermarkets are selling for $3 to $4 per pound.
A representative of the American Shrimp Processors Association, attorney Eddy Hayes, wrote a letter to Jindal and Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell this week, disputing the allegations of price-fixing among processors who peel, package and distribute shrimp.
"The worldwide recession has caused demand for luxury items, such as seafood, to drop significantly. Large amounts of shrimp imports continue to enter our borders in order to supply domestic demand," Hayes wrote in a letter alongside Andrew Blanchard, the association president. "Low demand and high supply of both domestic and imported shrimp have forced a worldwide decline in shrimp prices, not any agreement or conspiracy by shrimp processors."
Federal investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have already been looking into allegations that some shrimp processing plants along the Gulf Coast are commingling wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp with imported farm-raised products -- and labeling them as domestic shrimp for the market.
Although Louisiana leads the country in domestic production of shrimp, with fishers hauling in 57.8 million pounds last year, it amounts to less than 5 percent of the shrimp consumed in the United States. More than 90 percent of U.S. consumption is from imports, throwing Louisiana shrimp into a worldwide commodity market.
First Assistant Attorney General John Sinquefield acknowledged the allegations of mislabeling, which he said the agency would address along with other state agencies.
"As a result of the meeting, our staff will meet with the Governor's staff, Dept. of Agriculture, and the Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries to try and help the shrimpers," Sinquefield said in an e-mail statement. "The meeting ended on a positive note with a discussion of specific courses of action the Attorney General's office may be able to take."
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