CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Genetic testing of Charleston restaurants has revealed that while some progress has been made in shrimp transparency, the vast majority of eateries continue to mislead diners about whether they’re serving American wild-caught or imported seafood.
A follow-up study, run by the company SeaD Consulting, conducted Feb. 10-11 at 22 Charleston-area restaurants — half of those previously tested — found that just 23% served authentic American wild-caught shrimp, up from 9% in initial testing last year. But the news isn’t entirely encouraging: 77% of the restaurants retested were serving farm-raised imported shrimp while implying it was domestically caught.
“The retesting results in Charleston show only incremental improvement and make clear that voluntary transparency is not enough,” Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, said.
Five restaurants passed both tests
Three restaurants proved consistent in both testing periods, always serving American wild-caught shrimp:
- Acme Lowcountry Kitchen, Isle of Palms
- Grace & Grit, Mount Pleasant
- Rappahannock Oyster Bar, Charleston
Two others newly switched to American wild-caught shrimp between tests:
- Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar, Charleston
- Mt. Pleasant Seafood, Mount Pleasant
Continued deception
Among the 17 restaurants serving imported shrimp, more than half made false claims about what they were serving. Genetic testing showed that 53% verbally claimed to sell American wild-caught shrimp when they actually weren’t. Of those nine restaurants making false claims, six had misrepresented their sourcing previously, one previously sold American wild-caught shrimp but no longer did, and two had been transparent previously but were not this time…