Southern Shrimp Alliance Supports USDA Purchases of Seafood
September 28, 2023 | 1 min to read
The Southern Shrimp Alliance urged U.S. Senate and House agriculture leaders to include seafood in USDA programs, emphasizing the challenging conditions of the U.S. shrimp industry. They supported a broad coalition's call for practical measures in the Farm Bill, such as establishing an Office of Seafood Policy, enhancing seafood procurement in USDA nutrition programs, and extending grant eligibility to seafood producers. Additionally, SSA contributed to the LESS Act, aimed at financing shrimp purchases via tariffs on dumped imports.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and U.S. House Committee on Agriculture to encourage the inclusion of seafood under USDA programs.
The letter highlights the dire circumstances facing the US shrimp industry and lends unequivocal support for and strong endorsement of a letter sent to the Committees by a remarkably broad nationwide assemblage of the seafood industry allied in their call to focus on practical steps that can provide critical support for America’s seafood producers in drafting the Farm Bill. Specifically, we urge the: (i) creation of an Office of Seafood Policy and Program Integration in the USDA Office of the Chief Economist; (ii) promotion of greater seafood procurement across United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition programs; and (iii) extension of the eligibility for certain USDA grants and loans to U.S. seafood producers and supporting businesses.
In July, SSA also helped draft The Laws Ensuring Safe Shrimp Act (LESS Act) that, if passed, would finance USDA’s purchases of shrimp for the agency’s distribution programs through duties collected on dumped shrimp imports.
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