25 South Carolina Restaurants Accused of 'Shrimp Fraud' in Federal Lawsuit

A number of South Carolina restaurants are successful imaginable basking h2o complete nan shrimp they usage successful their dishes. 

According to nan national suit obtained by PEOPLE, revenge pinch nan District of South Carolina connected Friday, June 13, by nan South Carolina Shrimpers Association, 25 restaurants crossed nan authorities are being challenged for their “false and misleading representations” of trading “local” shrimp.

According to nan suit, nan section shrimping manufacture is integral to nan state’s tourism industry, generating billions of dollars for South Carolina. The accused are allegedly intentionally conflating nan “local, high-quality product” grown by nan Shrimpers Association pinch “a merchandise of inferior value and distant origin,” which damages nan state’s reputation.

These accusations allegedly break some nan national Lanham Act and nan South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, some of which govern trademark rule and unfair competition.

Leaders of nan Shrimpers Association publically announced nan suit astatine nan Pineapple Fountain successful downtown Charleston, S.C. “This fountain, pinch its graceful waters, represents nan very principle of what we, arsenic South Carolina shrimpers, strive to embody: a genuine, honorable welcome,” said South Carolina Shrimpers Association Vice President Bryan Jones, per WCSC. 

“We judge that erstwhile we induce our family, our friends, and our cherished guests to our beautiful Lowcountry, they merit thing little than nan real, authentic point — and successful this case, that intends our delectable and incomparable, wild-caught South Carolina shrimp.”

The suit was amended connected Thursday, July 3, to see each 25 restaurants.

PEOPLE reached retired to respective restaurants listed successful nan suit but person not received contiguous responses. However, a mates of nan accused person released statements regarding nan ineligible action. 

“When we opportunity [South Carolina] shrimp, we cognize it’s from [South Carolina] because they are coming straight from our known vendors, and we person nan receipts to backmost up those purchases,” stated a spokesperson for Mount Pleasant Seafood. “When caller section shrimp are not available, we do person stiff section shrimp that we will waste until caller go available.”

Crave Hospitality Group stated to WCSC, "We return sourcing and transparency earnestly astatine Mill Street Tavern. We were exceptionally amazed to study we’ve been named successful a suit and are actively reviewing it pinch counsel."

Also “floored” to beryllium named successful nan suit is Page’s Okra Grill, who said to nan outlet, stating, “We work together that restaurants should not advertise utilizing each section shrimp connected their menus, which is why we don’t do that and truthful we are angry to beryllium lumped successful that category. We do not declare connected immoderate of our menus that our shrimp is each section aliases East Coast.”

The Shrimpers Association is requesting to beryllium awarded an undisclosed magnitude towards “actual damages, treble damages, attorneys' fees, and punitive damages” on pinch “any specified different alleviation that nan Court deems conscionable and proper.”