Immigrants from Myanmar selecting shrimp. (Photo: Jason Motlagh)

ASPA applauds AP revelations into 'slave-peeled' Thai shrimp

UNITED STATES
Friday, December 18, 2015, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) applauds the research conducted by Associated Press (AP) agency, which last week published an article revealing that shrimp peeled in Thailand under "slavery" working conditions is sold in restaurants and in US supermarket chains.

The Associated Press vividly outlines the story with real examples, along with photos, of adults and children forced into slave shrimp-peeling labour operations in Thailand, highlighting the conditions in which the workers are forced to live, the wages, the long hours and the complicit authorities. AP investigators even followed vehicles to track the shrimp through to distribution to U.S. stores and into other global markets.

In light of the findings, ASPA strongly reminds consumers to look at labels and ask at restaurants where their shrimp are from and emphasizes that people must be proactively seeking out this information.

David Veal, Executive Director of ASPA, says, “Currently, an estimated 90 per cent of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. are imported, farm-raised shrimp. The premium, natural, antibiotic-free shrimp processed by ASPA members are only about 10 per cent of the total.”

“Our members account for the vast majority of domestic, U.S. production of warm-water shrimp from Gulf and South Atlantic waters. They take pride in their U.S. regulatory-compliant processing facilities, and they follow all U.S. labor practices. If it says Wild American or Gulf shrimp on the package – whether it’s a restaurant-sized package or a retail package, it will say where it’s from,” he added.

Jonathan McLendon, Vice President of ASPA and President of Wild American Shrimp, Inc., pointed out, “As consumers, we all have the power to make a difference. If we buy imported shrimp in a store or order them at a restaurant, under current U.S. regulations, there is no way to know for sure what is in those shrimp or whether they were produced with slave labor. You can remind the restaurants and grocery stores that you use, and if you are not comfortable with their answers or their choices in shrimp, you can educate them. You can encourage them buy wild-caught American shrimp. It’s very easy. There’s a ‘Where to Buy’ tab on our website.”

The American Shrimp Processors Association, based in Biloxi, Mississippi, represents and promotes the interests of the domestic, U.S. wild-caught, warm water shrimp processing industry along the Gulf and South Atlantic with members from Texas to North Carolina.

Related articles:

- Thai Union ensures to be combatting labour force
- Shrimp consumers can also aid to combat slave labour
- Thai Union announces further measures to stop slave labour in its supply chain

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