Coastal Georgia is renowned for its hospitality as well as for its shrimp-abundant estuaries and waterways. However, many dining spots along the coast do not source their seafood locally, while allowing patrons to assume that they do.

Cheaper foreign imports have flooded the seafood market in the United States, selling farm-raised shrimp at significantly lower price points and making it increasingly difficult for local shrimpers to compete effectively.

A new state law, House Bill 117, took effect on July 1 to address the issue. The bill requires all Georgia restaurants, excluding those operated by a state agency, to explicitly disclose whether the menu items they serve contain foreign imported shrimp.

Disclosures can be placed either on physical menus or on signs visible to the general public. While HB 117 has officially been signed into law, enforcement will not start until January in order to give businesses adequate time to prepare. Chefs and restaurant owners around downtown Savannah who serve imported seafood say they are in no particular hurry to update their menus.

State Rep. Jesse Petrea, who represents portions of Bryan and Chatham counties, sponsored HB 117. Petrea authored the measure with the clear intention of creating consumer transparency so buyers can make fully informed choices about the seafood they purchase.

"There’s a lack of information by consumers," said Petrea, "and what you discover, if you dig superficially, is that we have huge problems with foreign imports having a multitude of things that cause them to be sent back."

Data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reveals that 94% of all seafood consumed in the country is imported, with shrimp serving as the nation's most widely consumed seafood item. Although federal oversight exists to ensure food safety, foreign shipments are occasionally flagged or recalled by the FDA as unfit for human consumption.

A high-profile case of seafood contamination that gained major mainstream media attention was dubbed "radioactive shrimp." In 2025, the FDA announced a recall of frozen shrimp imported from Indonesia after testing positive for Cesium-137 (Cs-137).

However, the goal of HB 117 goes beyond consumer safety, focusing heavily on keeping local Georgia shrimpers in business.

"If people think they’re eating domestic, as they usually do when they aren’t, then we have almost lost our entire shrimp and fleet," said Petrea. "And when we lose that, when America can’t feed itself, that’s a loss that you don’t just fix overnight."

From boat to fork

Dockside restaurants are a main attraction on Tybee Island, Savannah and Brunswick, drawing in both locals and tourists with the full experience of Georgia’s marshes and rivers. With the sound of seagulls and the smell of salty air, diners at these dockside restaurants expect their dinner to come from the coast. However, several establishments serve imported shrimp despite being near shrimp-abundant waters.

Some Tybee Island businesses such as Bubba Gumbo’s and Sea Wolf Tybee, take pride in serving fresh seafood and supporting local shrimpers.

Tom Worley, owner of Sea Wolf Tybee, explained that a shortened supply chain can lead to a better product when it comes to shrimp. By cutting out the middle distributors, restaurants are able to ensure that the safety and quality of the shrimp doesn’t degrade in transportation due to temperature fluctuations. Sourcing from local shrimpers also has the benefit of building trust and clear communication between restaurant owners and suppliers.

“You have a better control over what you’re eating when it comes from a closer source,” said Worley.

Food service establishments that sell imported shrimp for some portions of the year benefit from getting more bang for their buck as food distributors allow them to buy imported shrimp at a lower price for large purchases.

A general manager at Dockside Seafood in Savannah, Chase Crenshaw, said that the restaurant buys shrimp from Ecuador, a decision he said “just made sense” to them. He claimed that shrimp imported from Ecuador and Georgia shrimp is similar as far as taste and quality. Crenshaw said that while many restaurants use low quality shrimp to make a couple extra dollars, Dockside is willing to narrow its margins a little more to buy Ecuadorian shrimp. Crenshaw described local shrimp as being something that is hard for their restaurant to find due to the inflated cost.

“At the end of the day, we’re all out here trying to survive, and you know, we try and give the customers the best quality we can while also being able to make a couple dollars ourselves,” he said.

But while making a profit is, of course, essential for running a business, a disclosure on shrimp origin is long overdue as customers are often misled as to who is serving local shrimp and who isn’t. Even restaurants who decorate their walls with fishing nets and model shrimping boats may not be meeting the standards that their customers expect.

DNA tests conducted in 2025 found that only 10 of 47 samples of shrimp from 44 restaurants tested in Savannah, Tybee Island and Port Wentworth were American species. Tests from the Golden Isles — Darien, Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island and Brunswick — showed 43 out of 44 restaurant samples were wild-caught, American shrimp. This study ultimately boosted the approval of HB117 and revealed mislabeling and false perceptions about shrimp served in restaurants tested.

SeaD Consulting, the firm hired to conduct DNA tests, released a list of 10 restaurants that passed the test but did not name the restaurants that failed the test for locally sourced shrimp.

Some restaurant owners and managers say they felt the DNA results weren’t communicated fairly because the list released only names of those that tested positive for local shrimp. For example, Bubba Gumbo’s, a locally owned restaurant and marina on Tybee Island which serves shrimp fresh off the nearby dock, wasn’t tested, and therefore did not make it onto the “nice” list.

“It left all of it up to the consumer’s assumption, you know, with them saying only these restaurants were tested positive for selling domestic shrimp,” said Chris Gulser, executive chef at Bubba Gumbo’s. “That meant people immediately thought that we weren’t selling domestic shrimp.”

In spite of the initial public misunderstanding that resulted from Bubba Gumbo’s being excluded from the DNA testing, Gusler expressed the importance that restaurants on Tybee be transparent as to where they source their shrimp. When vacationing diners come to Tybee Island, they likely expect to get fresh, Georgia shrimp, he said.

“They’re expecting a specific product and they should be able to get that product,” said Gusler.

John Wallace, shrimper and owner of Anchored Shrimp Company in Brunswick, says that HB117 can be nothing but good for shrimpers and shrimp sellers. Wallace explains how foreign imports have the largest hand in controlling the cost of staying in business. In recent years, the profit margin for the local shrimping industry has dwindled, with the price of shrimp rarely keeping up with inflation.

“I was actually getting more for shrimp in 1979 than I am today,” said Wallace. “In 1979, my net cost me $400, which now has cost me $4000. Also, fuel back then was less than a dollar, and sometimes it gets between $4 and $5 now.”

Wallace believes that as HB117 begins to take effect, many consumers will begin to take interest in supporting local shrimpers.

“We can already see interest changing. You know, we’re getting more and more calls for the product,” said Wallace.