Free trade unfair to fishermen

Re: “Imports hurting U.S. shrimp fishermen,” Nov. 8. As you reported, imported shrimp are destroying the domestic shrimp market for U.S. fishermen. This action is the result of what is supposed to be free trade, which in my opinion should be fair trade. Consumers must look beyond the sticker price of imported shrimp to see if what they perceive to be a value is really a value.

All U.S. shrimp boats are required by federal lay to have a device sewn into their nets called a TED (Turtle Exclusion Device). This device reduces incidental turtle drownings by 97 percent, according to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. Many foreign governments do not require or enforce this TED practice on their wild-caught, exported shrimp.

Earlier this year, Wal-Mart stores in Louisiana removed all imported farm-raised Chinese white shrimp from their stores. These imported shrimp tested positive for amounts of chloramphenicol, an antibiotic used in foreign aquaculture. Chloramphenicol is believed to be a cancer-causing agent and is proven to contribute to aplastic anemia.

Inequities in trade practices are not limited to shrimp. All types of finfish, both wild-caught and farm-raised, are subject to unfair trade practices. This past summer, Louisiana catfish farmers asked the federal government to impose tariffs on imported Vietnamese farm-raised catfish. U.S. farmers claimed the Vietnamese catfish now make up 20 percent of the marketplace and accused the foreign farmers of selling their product below cost.

For the shrimp market, imports now take 88 percent of the U.S. market, and without some relief, the shrimp industry will be damaged beyond recovery. Imported reef fish like grouper and snapper, popular locally, affect U.S. prices to domestic fishermen who fish under strict regulations and quotas.

Domestic fishermen are wrestling with increased regulation, increased operating expenses and a shrinking market for their product due to unfair trade practices. Domestic fishermen, especially in the Fort Myers area, fish on sustainable stocks, as all major U.S. fisheries are under state and federal management plans which require sustainability. Consumers need to know that there is more at stake than a few cents saved by buying imported seafood. Environmental impacts and health concerns of imported seafood need to be looked at by consumers.

CAPT. ERIC SCHMIDT, Fort Myers