The Southern Shrimp Alliance is applauding President Trump’s 25% tariff on shrimp imports from India, which is by far the biggest exporter of shrimp to the United States. Board member Cheri Blanchard of Houma says the low cost of imported shrimp is costing local shrimpers their livelihoods.
“Boats have been tied up. So there’s not a lot of wild caught shrimp, but if you don’t have boats that are geared to go out there. And the reason they’re tied up is because they couldn’t make a profit,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard says shrimp exporters, including India, Indonesia and Vietnam, do not abide by the same rules that domestic shrimpers have to abide by, and that makes imported shrimp a lot less healthy.
“They have to add huge amounts of antibiotics and chemicals into that shrimp in order for it to live, because otherwise it can’t live like that. That’s not its natural state,” Blanchard explained.
Blanchard says she hopes the tariffs will level the playing field between local shrimpers and the exporters.
“It’ll allow us to build back up our industry so we can provide better seafood, and it’ll give the grocery stores and the wholesalers an incentive to seek those sources out,” Glorioso said.
