The U.S. Commerce Department May
Levy Countervailing Duties on Imported Farmed Shrimp
Countervailing will be Unavailing
Sea Port foresees farmed shrimp Countervailing Duties as
being unavailing for improving the economic lives of U.S. Shrimpers, U.S. Consumers,
and for the many shrimp farmers of Indo-Asia-Pacific Developing Countries. Implementation of such duties would make the
cost of shrimp (America’s favorite seafood) more expensive and therefore less
affordable to all U.S. consumers.
Sea Port believes Countervailing
will be Unavailing in improving the marketing, production/processing
efficiencies, and environmental impacts of the U.S. Gulf wild shrimp fishery.
Sea Port believes Countervailing
will be Unavailing in improving the poverty levels of developing
countries that have expanding shrimp aquaculture that is designed to help lift
families out of such poverty.
Sea Port believes Countervailing
will be Unavailing in promoting U.S. consumers to consume more affordable
seafood to improve their health.
In short, Countervailing
will be Unavailing for the majority of shrimp producers and consumers
and only has a chance of benefiting a very few politically connected U.S. wild
shrimp fishery participants.
Sea Port believes that Countervailing and Unavailing
need to be replaced with Prevailing:
Prevailing
should be what the U.S. Shrimpers are doing in their efforts to market their
wild catch as distinguishable from farmed imported shrimp, advance their production
and processing efficiencies, and to lessen their environmental impacts due to
trawling and by-catch.
Prevailing
should be what Indo-Asia-Pacific developing countries are doing in their
struggle to alleviate poverty by expanding not only shrimp aquaculture but
other farmed seafood species as well.
Prevailing
should be what U.S. consumers are doing in their quest to improve their health
by consuming more affordable shrimp and other seafood.
In short, Prevailing
should be what the majority does over the minority who resort to using politics
and barriers to achieve benefits rather than using constructive creativity for
which the seafood industry is proudly known.
Sea Port is optimistic that the constructively creative
seafood industry will continue to prevail in its quest to provide more affordable
healthy seafood for an ever-expanding world population in spite of any possible
farmed shrimp Countervailing Duties that we find quite unavailing in many
respects.
