Louisiana U.S. Rep. Garret Graves urges halt of shrimp imports

Louisiana U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and Alaska U.S. Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola called for an immediate stop to shrimp imports from India, following reports of severe food and safety issues and labor violations at the processing facilities.

Graves said in a news release that the imported shrimp regularly do not meet domestic health standards.

The representatives, who have an outstanding bill addressing the issue, pointed out that healthy shrimp can be purchased from U.S. fisheries.

"We are fighting to protect free and fair trade by ensuring that foreign farmed imports aren’t given an unfair advantage while also threatening Americans’ health," Graves said in the release. "Meanwhile, American shrimpers follow all the rules to keep our health and fisheries safe, and wild, healthy American shrimp are being boxed out of U.S. markets. We need to be doing everything we can to stop bad imports from reaching consumers, especially when we have high-quality, healthy shrimp right here at home."

Graves' release added that shrimp from India accounts for reportedly 40% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S.

He also cited a 2020 study conducted by LSU's Agricultural Center that found contamination in two-thirds of tested samples of imports.

Graves represents the 6th district of Louisiana, which currently includes parts of the Baton Rouge area.