That report calls ‘dangerous and abusive’
of farmed shrimp from India to the U.S. in the past year, according to Importgenius trade data. Records show shipments went to major American seafood distributors including AJC International Inc., Eastern Fish, Censea, Jetro Cash & Carry Enterprises, King & Prince Seafood, Red Chamber Co. and Rich Products Corp. Those companies, in turn, sell Indian shrimp under popular brand names including Costar, Good & Gather, Great Value and Mrs. Friday’s at supermarkets, box stores and restaurants across the U.S.
Importers that responded to requests for comment about possible labor abuses said they would investigate, with some suspending business in the meantime.
“We at Rich Products treat these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” said the owners of frozen Seapak brand shrimp. “We are always fully prepared to investigate any allegations and take decisive corrective measures in response to any substantiated claims.”
DAMAGING THE ENVIRONMENT
Alongside a busy highway last month, men pulled nets of shrimp from shrimp ponds that had been dug into fields and mangroves, destroying critical ecosystems. Local villagers said the growing industry hasn’t just brought abusive working conditions, it’s also damaging their environment.
The massive, murky ponds and their toxic algae, chemicals and sewage have made it impossible to grow crops and poisoned their water, they said. Investigators from CAL say antibiotic use is widespread to control disease outbreaks. Antibiotic use in shrimp farming and other agriculture can lead to rising drug-resistant infections, a growing problem in the U.S.
“Essentially, we feel lost,” said Areti Vasu, a farmer who said he was badly beaten and jailed during failed protests that sought to stop the development of a 57-acre shrimp processing and cold storage plant adjacent to his rice fields. “Our lives, our land, our farming pride, fresh air, and clean water – everything is lost. We are destined to live here in disgrace.”
Jonnalagaruvu village vice president Koyya Sampath Rao initially helped build the massive facility, ignoring warnings from environmentalists.
“Sadly their predictions came true,” he said. “Our water streams are now polluted, farmland is turning barren, yields are shrinking, and the night air is thick with pollutants.”
Official complaints about a lack of environmental impact studies and coastal regulation violations have usually been dismissed by Indian authorities.
Among the trucks being loaded with the shrimp at a pond in the village was one with a large sign: “Wellcome Kingwhite.” In the past year Wellcome shipped 3,800 tons of shrimp to the U.S., according to Importgenius trade data. The records show these include distributors Great American Seafood Co., Pacific Coral Seafood and Ore-cal. The Great American Seafood Co. says on its website that it sells to dozens of food suppliers and supermarket chains, from Sysco and US Foods to Whole Foods and Winco Foods.
Sysco, the nation’s largest food distributor, has imported in the past from both Nekkanti and Wellcome. A spokesperson said they stopped doing business with Wellcome in 2022 after the Indian firm “refused to allow us to conduct a required social responsibility audit in their facility.” Wellcome did not respond to requests for comment.
The Sysco spokesperson said the company suspended receipt of any products from Nekkanti after AP’S query this month, and would immediately begin an investigation.
Sysco “will continue to hold all its suppliers to the highest standards of labor and human rights,” the company said in a statement.
UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES
Most American consumers say they would rather buy U.s.-produced food. But with only 5% of shrimp sold in the U.S. caught there, shrimp from the U.S. can be harder to locate and considerably more costly.
In the 1970s, the U.S. led the world in shrimp production. Shrimp was considered a delicacy. Diners were served expensive shrimp cocktails with less than a dozen shellfish harvested off the East, West and Gulf coasts.
Over the next two decades, the use of inexpensive shrimp-farming technologies soared in Asia, and imports flooded the market. Today
in the U.S., where more than 5 pounds of shrimp per person is eaten per year, consumers expect all-you-can-eat shrimp buffets and $10 frozen bags at their markets.
There are a number of systems failing to prevent shrimp that is produced by forced labor or causes environmental damage from arriving on Americans’ dinner tables.
For one, there is plenty of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico, but U.S. fishing communities have stricter, and more costly, labor and environmental standards than their Asian counterparts. Last year officials in the region sought financial relief, asking for state and federal declarations of a fishery disaster because they cannot compete with cheap imports that make up 95% of the market.
The request is pending. If approved, boat owners typically receive checks for a few thousand dollars, well below their losses.
“The many small, family-owned commercial shrimping businesses in Louisiana are facing an unprecedented risk of collapse due to the devastating impacts that large volumes of imported shrimp are having on domestic shrimp dockside prices,” said then-gov. John Bel Edwards last fall.
U.S. Customs and Border protection is responsible for blocking imports of products produced with forced labor, and in recent years has prohibited imports of some cotton from China, gold from Democratic Republic of Congo, and sugar from the Dominican Republic. No products have been prohibited from India.
Eric Choy, executive director of CBP’S office of trade, said CBP does investigate allegations of abuse.
“You’d hope that there was a magic button that you can push and then everything created by forced labor is prohibited from entering, but it’s a much harder task,” he said. “It does require us to follow the trail.”
Last year, the FDA refused entry of 51 shrimp shipments citing antibiotics; 37 of those were shrimp exported from India.
The departments of Labor and Commerce haven’t taken significant action, despite U.S. shrimpers’ complaints of unfair trade.
“For too long India has engaged in unfair trade practices causing economic damage to our domestic shrimp industry,” said Trey Pearson, president of the American Shrimp Processors Association.
U.S. firms rely on industry organizations and auditors to make sure their shrimp imports are raised and processed in a safe, legal and environmentally responsible way.
The National Fisheries Institute, America’s largest seafood trade association, works with seafood importers to improve working and environmental conditions in shrimp farming.
“Any labor abuses in the value chain are abhorrent and they need to be addressed immediately,” said NFI chief strategy officer Gavin Gibbons.
The Global Seafood Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practice stamp of approval is on almost all Indian imports, certifying the supply chain meets their high standards.
“We take these matters very seriously,” the organization said in an emailed statement.
CAL said the Best Aquaculture Practice certifications are often performative.
“Despite strong standards on paper, implementation is often weak,” said the report.
SHRIMP WILL GROW IN A LAB, SAYS FISHERMAN
Fisherman and author Paul Greenberg said he sees a future where the shrimp Americans eat is neither wild caught nor farmed: it will grow in a lab. He said the science is underway to develop those products, and because shrimp isn’t flaky like fish, it should be an easier seafood to produce with living cells.
In the meantime, he’s been trying out vegan shrimp, “the shrimp that never died.” The texture is good, he said, and the sweetness impressive.
Human rights advocates say cost-cutting from U.S. supermarkets, restaurants and wholesalers squeeze producers to provide cheaper shrimp without addressing labor and environmental conditions.
CAL says Indian companies need to pay living wages and abide by labor, health, safety and environmental laws. In addition, the organization says U.S. companies need to ensure that the price they pay for shrimp is enough for Indian exporters to treat workers equitably. And, they say, both the Indian and U.S. governments need to enforce existing laws.
“The presence of widespread labor abuses and environmental destruction in the Indian shrimp sector is undeniable,” said Allie Brudney, a CAL senior staff attorney. “U.S. restaurants and grocery stores need to purge these unethical practices from their supply chains.”
Ecologist Marla Valentine, who heads non-profit Oceana’s illegal fishing and transparency campaign, said consumers can help.
“You can use your dollar to make a difference,” she said. “When this isn’t a lucrative business anymore, it will stop.”
It has worked in the past, she said.
“Thailand has been called out for labor abuses many times, particularly regarding shrimp, and we are seeing the seafood industry and the Thai government really try to make some of those changes,” she said. “They are answering the market power, so it shows that change can happen.”