A recent study by SeaD Consulting revealed that 42 out of 44 Tampa Bay area restaurants surveyed were falsely passing off imported shrimp as locally caught.
Local shrimpers say the effects of this kind of shrimp fraud go beyond betrayed diners.
RELATED: Genetic testing shows Tampa Bay area restaurants are a shrimp fraud hot spot
Shrimper Merritt Joseph Latino has been in the business for over 17 years. On one arm, underneath an anchor tattoo, the words "shrimpin' ain't easy" are permanently emblazoned in ink.
Last month, he celebrated his birthday aboard the Gina Ann shrimping boat, which was docked at St. Petersburg’s Bayboro Harbor.
“And believe it or not, there’s very, very few holidays and birthdays that you spend at home doing this type of job,” he said.
Shrimpers like Latino sweep the Gulf’s seabeds for up to 30 days at a time.
“Gotta have it in your blood, you gotta love it," he said, as he hauled a large mesh bag of fresh Gulf shrimp into the onboard freezer. "If you don’t love it, it’s not cut out for everybody.”
The Gina Ann is one of the boats currently contracted by BAMA Sea Products, a family-owned shrimp supplier based in St. Petersburg.
"We've got hundreds of boats like this that go out on the open ocean and catch shrimp that's the best shrimp in the world," said CEO Michael Stephens.
And when restaurants charge a premium for locally caught shrimp — and pocket the extra profit by actually serving farm-raised imported shrimp — shrimpers say they're being denied a fair income for their high-quality products.
“It costs more money to go out and catch shrimp with a boat than it does to raise shrimp at a farm, and that's okay, but we should be able to charge more money and get a higher price from the consumers that pay more for protein,” Stephens explained.
BAMA has been shrimping out of St. Petersburg for over 30 years. To Stephens, this "livelihood is quintessentially American — the harder you work, the better you do."
That means that a bad catch or a slow season directly translates to less money for the shrimpers.
And over time, Stephens has noticed that people are starting to care more about where their food comes from.
He likened Gulf shrimp — mostly white, brown and pink — to the best of its kind, such as what Angus or Wagyu is to beef.
“When you cook wild-caught Gulf shrimp, people ask us how to season it, and I tell them as little as possible, because it has a flavor imparted upon it by the ocean that you can't recreate," Stephens said.
He emphasized that he doesn't want to "scare people" into never eating farm-raised shrimp.
Since it's produced on a larger scale and is imported, it's often a cheaper and more accessible option that Stephens still highly recommends for people looking for a "better, cleaner more wholesome protein" than red meat.
But, Stephens adds, diners who are seeking out the highest quality seafood shouldn't be lied to at restaurants.
