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Not all North Carolina coastal restaurants that claim to be serving “wild-caught” shrimp harvested from the U.S. coast actually are, new testing shows.
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Consulting group SeaD Consulting tested the DNA of shrimp served at 22 Outer Banks restaurants in June, on behalf of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents members of the commercial shrimping industry from eight states including North Carolina.
Of the 22 restaurants tested, 11 were found to be serving wild-caught shrimp from the U.S. coast.
The other half were serving “imported/farm-raised” shrimp — with 10 of them explicitly describing their shrimp as wild-caught from American waters.
This is the second time in less than a year that SeaD has tested shrimp at Outer Banks restaurants. In December, the consultant found that of 43 restaurants claiming to serve American wild-caught shrimp, only 16 — or 36% — were.
“These findings show that awareness and transparency are improving, but they also demonstrate why voluntary compliance isn’t enough,” Lori Galloway, North Carolina shrimper and seafood dealer, said in the SeaD news release. “Consumers deserve to know what they’re paying for, and restaurants that invest in genuine American Wild-caught Seafood deserve a level playing field.”
Six Outer Banks restaurants tested in December and June served wild-caught shrimp, according to the SeaD report:
Hurricane Mo’s Beachside Bar & Grill in Kitty Hawk confirmed to SeaD that it has started serving wild-caught shrimp since the December test. Four other restaurants now serving wild-caught shrimp were not available to confirm to SeaD that they switched from imported shrimp.
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SeaD did not say which restaurants are not serving local shrimp.
However, according to the report, seven restaurants tested in June and December served imported/farm-raised shrimp both times. Four restaurants that were serving American wild-caught shrimp in December served imported/farm-raised shrimp in June.
Just weeks ago, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a law that requires restaurants that serve imported shrimp to post signs at their entrances and on their menus, if they have them, alerting customers that some of the food may contain “foreign imported shrimp.”
North Carolina doesn’t have a law like this. But in a statement, state Rep. Celeste Cairns, a Republican from Carteret County, said she intends to “help draft legislation in the next session to put a stop to wrongful practice and harmful economic impacts of mislabeling seafood on menus in our state.”
North Carolina shrimpers say they face competition from often cheaper imported shrimp, The N&O previously reported.
The U.S. imported 1.67 billion pounds of shrimp in 2024, valued at more than $6 billion, according to research from Mississippi State University.
In 2024, around 7.7 million pounds of wild-caught shrimp valued at about $14.8 million were hauled in to North Carolina shores, according to the 2025 License and Statistics Annual Report from the state Division of Marine Fisheries. The state recorded fewer than 300 commercial shrimpers in 2024, down from 518 in 2016.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance has supported the Trump Administration’s tariffs on imported seafood as ways to make American shrimpers’ prices more competitive.
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