Gulf Coast shrimpers have seen their profits go from jumbo to tiny over the past four decades

A shrimper weighs his catch in Buras, Louisiana. He now makes about $3 less per pound (adjusted for inflation) than he made in the mid 1980s. (Civil Eats photo)

As the U.S. shrimping industry limps along, shrimping advocates are asking for government controls and consumer support to help change their fortunes.

"Shrimpers along the Gulf Coast have struggled to compete with cheaper imported shrimp. . . and dealt with rising fuel costs," report Jake Price and Olivia Shaffett of Civil Eats. "In the 1980s, shrimpers could sell a pound of shrimp for about $4.50 (adjusted for inflation). In recent years, they have been lucky to get $1.50."

Industry experts say Louisiana shrimping's survival depends on the U.S. government establishing guardrails, "whether [through] quotas, import caps, or higher tariffs to curtail the high volume of imported shrimp," Price and Shaffett write. Consumer education on how to spot U.S. shrimp can also help the industry.

Rocky Ditcharo, a seafood wholesaler in Buras, Louisiana, believes government intervention is needed. He told Civil Eats, "If we can’t cap imports, if there is no solution. . . .Then this industry dies in 20 years."

Ditcharo also sees smart consumerism as an equally important piece. "Consumers should inspect the back of the pack to find the country of origin, method of production, and manufacturer," Price and Shaffett explain. "Descriptions such as 'wild-caught,' 'wild,' and 'Atlantic' usually indicate that the shrimp is a product of the U.S."

Eating imported shrimp means the Food and Drug Administration doesn't have authority over product testing before it lands on U.S. shelves. Earlier this week, the FDA issued an urgent recall for Indonesian shrimp sold at Walmart that could be radioactive. "Certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp products sold at Walmart are being recalled due to possible contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope," reports Erin Keller of the Independent. The shrimp recall details are here.

Beginning in August, the Trump administration "increased tariffs on top shrimp importers, including Vietnam (20%) and Indonesia (19%) . . . India, which accounts for roughly one-third of all shrimp imports in the U.S., faces the highest tariffs of 50%," Price and Shaffet add. 

Finally Friday's quick hits: The art of butter; fentanyl drug lord captured; Lincoln's words; the traveling candy bar

The iconic 'Butter Lady' with one of her sculptures.
(Photo via The Daily Scoop)

Butter might be the kitchen's hero for sumptuous deserts and sauces, but it's also versatile enough to create sculptured art. The late Norma “Duffy” Lyon, also known as "The Butter Lady," was an icon at the Iowa State Fair, reports Karen Bohnert for The Daily Scoop. "Her creations included just about everything— cows, Garth Brooks, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Elvis. Read about the life and times of Duffy Lyon here. 

It seems like no matter which tactics are used, the United States continues to lose its border battle to keep the deadly drug fentanyl from entering the country and killing more Americans. But for all those losses, here's an unusual win. "U.S. authorities fooled Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada into boarding a Texas-bound private plane. There he was taken into custody, alongside Joaquin Guzmán, who is the son of famed drug lord 'El Chapo,'" reports KFF Health News. "Zambada's Sinaloa cartel is believed to be the biggest supplier of fentanyl to the U.S., and the two men were among the top-wanted drug dealers in the world."

While landscapes form the better part of rural imagery, our oceans are just as vast -- full of plants, rock-filled sand and creatures sci-fi stories haven't even imagined. Life's origins might just be emerging from the deep. "In the total darkness of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered oxygen being produced not by living organisms but by strange potato-shaped metallic lumps that give off almost as much electricity as AA batteries," reports Agence France-Presse of The Guardian. "The surprise finding has many potential implications and could even require rethinking how life first began on Earth."

With words and deeds, Lincoln kept a divided nation
together. (Photo by Caleb Fisher, Unsplash)

Somewhere in almost every politician's playbook are some quotes from Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln became president when the nation was "even more deeply divided than today," writes Donald Nieman for The Conversation. "His ability to make prose poetic resonates across the centuries – making him the obvious source for politicians in times of crisis. . . . One of Lincoln's most quoted aphorisms is his "appeal to 'the better angels of our nature'" from his 1861 inaugural address. Americans from all political walks of life have "invoked the phrase to decry the intractable partisan warfare that has escalated over the past decade and call for a return to civility."

Why do you do what you do? A lot of people might say, "Beats me. . . I'm just trying to get to Friday." Daily life can be tough, but knowing our "why," can make daily living more meaningful, writes Neil Speer for Drovers. "How many times do we find people who are just putting in their time?" Neil suggests using the ideas from Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why as an antidote to facing life just slogging along. "The book revolves around the question: What’s your why?"

Society of Biology photo

Farming advocate Deb Stroschein used the travels of an American candy bar to show elementary students how food ingredients move across the globe before landing in a neat packages on grocery store shelves.

"I broke down all the ingredients in the candy bar. . . and explained that ingredients can come from plants, nuts, and also from animals. . . .The 'food miles' concept offers a way to study how far food travels. . . . It makes you think about where the food we eat originates. All of the ingredients in this candy bar traveled a total of 30,400 miles to get to the central location. . . .The kids were impressed by that fact."