John Williams will tell you he lives, eats and breathes shrimp -- and has for almost 40 years.
But making a living by catching shrimp these days is tough. Like their counterparts along the Gulf Coast, Williams and other Florida shrimpers are seeing their livelihoods threatened by cheaper pond-raised shrimp from Asia.
"We're almost on the edge of extinction," said Williams, whose four shrimp boats are part of Gulf Partners Ltd of Tarpon Springs.
To try to help the US$45 million a year industry, state agriculture officials said on Tuesday they're rolling out TV and in-store ads that tout the "wild and wonderful" shrimp caught in Florida waters.
"When given a choice, we feel that many consumers will choose shrimp from Florida," said Charlie Bronson, Florida's state agriculture commissioner.
Congress approved sending US$7 million to Florida shrimpers last year, and shrimpers decided to put US$1.2 million of that toward the advertising campaign.
Foreign shrimp sales in the last four years have skyrocketed, Bronson said. Since 2000, Brazil has increased its market share by an astounding 210 percent and Vietnam is also in the triple digits with 169 percent. China and India have increased their sales in the same period by 73 percent and 74 percent, respectively.
Florida shrimp cost more at the store than Asian imports; on average, the difference may be more than US$1 a pound. Producers contend the seafood is being sold at unfairly low prices.
But Joanne McNeely, the Florida Agriculture Department's seafood marketing chief, said people want to buy fresh seafood, including shrimp.
"We have found they are willing to pay more," she said.
Seafood wholesalers and restaurateurs, however, say not everyone is willing to pay more all the time -- and they stand up for imported shrimp.
"You really find in speaking to restaurants that the consistency of the quality is superior in farm-raised shrimp," said Travis Larkin, of the Seafood Exchange, a seafood importer and wholesaler in Miami. "It's also more affordable."
Larkin said there also is a market for domestic shrimp, and he said he's glad to see Florida shrimpers put an effort into marketing. He says that's a better idea than their other tactic: a push for tariffs against imported shrimp.
"That's the answer to the domestic industry's plight, a marketing campaign that increases the brand equity of their product," he said.
Shrimp producers have asked the Commerce Department to impose antidumping duties ranging from 30 percent to more than 300 percent on imports targeted in their complaint, including those from Brazil, China, Vietnam and India.
In an announcement Wednesday, commerce officials said they were delaying a decision on the tariffs until July because of the complicated nature of the case.
Supporters of foreign shrimp also say Asian supplies are important because domestic shrimpers can't catch enough to supply the US market.
Almost 90 percent of the shrimp eaten in the US are imported.
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