Representatives of the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) Board of Directors met in Washington, DC with the law firm of Dewey Ballantine LLP as directed by the Board earlier this month, to proceed with action against "unfairly traded imports of foreign shrimp".

The Board directed that antidumping/countervailing duty petitions be prepared for filing as soon as practicable against unfairly traded imported shrimp from countries that have devastated the domestic shrimp industry.

"The U.S. shrimp industry will pursue its legal options against unfairly traded imports, not because we want to but because we have to," said SSA President Eddie Gordon.  "We want to let SSA members and those in the domestic industry who are not yet members know that we intend to vigorously pursue our legal rights.  We urge shrimpers, processors, suppliers, lenders, communities, government officials, and everyone else that is interested in the economic health and continued vitality of this industry to join with us in a common effort to stop unfair trade."

"We will be strong and we will be successful because the industry is united," said Wilma Anderson, an SSA Board member and the Executive Director of the Texas Shrimp Association.  "Individual interests must be put aside in favor of the common interest of our industry.  Our actions must be guided by the facts and the law rather than frustration and factionalism."

The SSA is an organization representing shrimpers, processors, and others in the U.S. shrimp industry in all eight U.S. shrimp-producing states -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.