(postandcourier.com) Some South Carolina shrimpers are hoping to benefit from a Food and Drug Administration crackdown on farm-raised shrimp and other seafood from China that tests have found to be contaminated with unapproved drugs.
"Anything that cuts into imports," said Lonnie Golden of Fripp Point Seafood, president of the South Carolina Shrimpers Association. "That would be the best thing that could happen for our industry."
The FDA announced Thursday that several types of Chinese seafood products will be stopped at the U.S. border until it's proven that the farm-raised shrimp, catfish, basa fish and dace (a carp-like fish) are not contaminated.
The agency said there's no immediate health risk, but the announcement comes on the heels of several scandals involving tainted products from China, including pet food ingredients blamed for killing dozens of dogs and cats worldwide, toothpaste manufactured with an ingredient used in antifreeze, and children's toys decorated with lead paint.
"To me, it (the FDA action) tells us that our government is doing their job," said Eddie Gordon, executive director of Charleston-based American Wild Shrimp Inc. "We think it's good news.
"It also points out to consumers that there is a difference in shrimp, and hopefully they will look for the Wild American label," Gordon said.
The Wild American Shrimp label is a government-funded certification program for wild-caught domestic shrimp. Some local shrimpers, but not all, participate in the program, which requires quality standards training.
Domestic shrimpers have complained for years that low-priced shrimp imports from Asia are hurting their business. Imports now account for 90 percent of the shrimp sold in the United States, and Chinese-farmed shrimp accounts for slightly less than 10 percent of the U.S. supply.
Sample testing in 2006-07 "repeatedly found that farm-raised seafood imported from China were contaminated with antimicrobial agents that are not approved for use in the United States," the FDA said.
Several of the agents are suspected carcinogens.
"When they (consumers) see it on the news, that's going to get their attention," Golden said. "We hope it will make a difference."
The National Fisheries Institute, which represents importers of foreign seafood, among others, called the FDA action "an important step ... to ensure that nations exporting to the U.S. follow our country's food safety regulations."
The organization said it does not expect the detention and testing of Chinese imports to significantly disrupt the nation's seafood supply.
The FDA describes the new policy as a precautionary measure.
"The FDA believes that risk to U.S. consumers due to these drugs in seafood products from China is minimal, and does not represent an immediate risk to public health," the agency said in a fact sheet posted on its Web site.
There have been no reports of illnesses, and the agency said that if people already have some of the Chinese seafood products in their freezers, there's no reason to throw them away.