Shrimpers, processors do battle

DULAC, La., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. shrimpers and their processors are sniping at each other as the industry faces growing pressures, analysts say.

Louisiana shrimpers allege processors engage in price-fixing and mislabel imported shrimp as "domestic." Processors dismiss the claims and say they are dealing with a significant drop in demand, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Annual shrimp supply has outstripped demand by as much as 600 million pounds per year, the Journal quoted U.S. Department of Commerce data as showing, with roughly a six-month supply of shrimp now in cold storage -- a figure well above normal.

The number of shrimpers in Louisiana has shrunk to about 4,700 from as many as 16,500 in 1989 as imports have risen, the newspaper reported. It said angry shrimpers have picketed processing plants, called a strike and have marched on the state Capitol in Baton Rouge demanding protection from the government.

Re-labeling imported shrimp as domestic, which is generally considered better-tasting, "is probably happening, though I don't have proof," Danny Babin, a shrimp processor from Houma, La., who represents processors on a state task force aimed at improving the shrimp industry, told the Journal.