The Holy City, known for its local seafood - especially its signature shrimp and grits, now faces a bit of food scandal. A new investigation alleges that most Charleston-area restaurants promoting that they serve "local" shrimp are, in fact, serving imported product—often farm-raised and falsely marketed as fresh-from-the-boat local fare.
From May 19-22, 2025, SEAD Consulting—commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance—conducted genetic testing on shrimp dishes served at 44 Charleston-area restaurants using the patented RIGHTTest (Rapid ID Genetic High-Accuracy Test). This testing determined whether restaurants were serving authentic South Carolina wild-caught shrimp or imported substitutes.
The results are bleak: only 4 out of the 44 restaurants tested were found to be serving genuine domestic wild-caught shrimp. The remaining 40 were misleading consumers in their branding, menu descriptions, or proximity to local docks, with 25 found to be outright fraudulent. Some even referenced shrimp boats or “Lowcountry” heritage while serving foreign imports raised in unknown conditions. Foreign imported shrimp is not monitored in the same manner as U.S. producers and not held to the same accountability standards.
“This is not only deceptive but also insulting to the hardworking shrimpers whose livelihoods are being undermined,” said Erin Williams, Founder and COO of SEAD Consulting. “It’s decimating the entire regional economy and culture they’ve worked for generations to build and promote.”
Even restaurants perched on the water—overlooking local shrimp boats—were found to be serving imported shrimp.
“Charleston’s culinary identity is built on the legacy of local fishermen and the unmatched quality of wild-caught shrimp,” said John Williams, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Consumers—especially tourists—believe they’re eating authentic Lowcountry seafood, when in reality they’re being sold a globalized substitute likely raised in ponds treated with antibiotics, often using slave labor, with none of the tradition or taste.”
The testing, which covers a representative random selection of area restaurants, informs seafood consumers of the need to ask questions about the source of their shrimp. While there may be other area restaurants that use local shrimp, the following four Charleston-area restaurants were confirmed to be serving authentic U.S. wild-caught shrimp:
- Coosaw Creek Crab Shack - 8486 Dorchester Road, North Charleston, SC 29420
- Grace & Grit (Mount Pleasant) - 320 Wingo Way, Suite 100, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
- Rappahannock Oyster Bar - 701 E Bay Street, Suite 110, Charleston, SC 29403
- Acme (Lowcountry Kitchen) - 31 J C Long Boulevard, Isle of Palms, SC 29451
SEAD Consulting will send letters to the 40 Charleston restaurants found to be using imported shrimp under the guise of local fare, urging them to switch to domestic sourcing or update their menus to reflect true origins. Follow-up testing is planned.
In the 8-state study being conducted by SEAD Consulting, commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, laws are shown to make a difference in holding restaurants accountable to serving what’s being advertised or implied on the plate. States lacking restaurant labeling laws have shown to have an 80% inauthenticity rate vs. only 34% in states that have restaurant labeling laws in place. Currently, there is no restaurant labeling law or pending legislation in the state of South Carolina to protect consumers from this deception.
Shrimp during the testing process
"Twenty-seven percent of shrimp consumption occurs on a seaside trip or vacation. Visitors are seeking local shrimp, and the vast majority of tested Charleston restaurants are failing to provide it," said Craig Reaves, SC Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "Our state legislators need to take action like other coastal states to ensure transparent restaurant labeling to help consumers, honest restaurants, and local shrimpers."
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has deemed that restaurants giving the “net impression” of serving local seafood while providing imports instead is misleading and illegal. In a 2024 letter to the ten highest-grossing seafood restaurants, the Commissioner of the FTC observed that “[m]any Americans are willing to pay a premium for wild-caught, American seafood. Those customers deserve to know when they are being offered the genuine article – and when they are being offered something else.” The letter concludes, “I will not hesitate to request a law enforcement investigation if I am presented with credible evidence of a law violation.”
Until laws change, the organizations urge consumers in Charleston are "urged to ask where their shrimp comes from—and request proof. Demand to see the box from the kitchen. Look for the words “wild-caught U.S.” or ask directly about South Carolina sourcing."
Restaurants can honor their menus and their coastal heritage by choosing domestic shrimp—or, at the very least, telling the truth.
About Southern Shrimp Alliance
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the domestic industry in the eight warmwater shrimp-producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. SSA has funded SEAD Consulting’s genetic testing at restaurants in eight shrimp-producing states. The list of restaurants found to be serving Gulf shrimp in the samples taken by market can be found here.
About SEAD Consulting
SEAD (Seafood Development) Consulting works with diverse stakeholders — seafood producers, academia, governmental agencies, and environmental organizations — to foster innovation and sustainability throughout the sector, bridging commercial fishery science with testing and processing technologies to combat seafood mislabeling and substitution fraud. They currently hold the patent, in partnership with Florida State University, for portable rapid ID high accuracy genetic test RIGHTTest™, being used in a multi-state study to determine shrimp species being served at seafood restaurants. For more information about the investigation and how you can support ethical seafood sourcing, please visit www.seadconsulting.com or contact us at sead@seadconsulting.com. Consumers are also encouraged to contact SeaD Consulting https://www.seadconsulting.com/contact-us to report suspected fraud in their area. #SEADConsulting