Seafood is an iconic staple of our summer diets, but that shrimp on your po’boy may not be what it seems.

Despite promises of “fresh Gulf seafood” on menus across the country, many diners are unknowingly served imported products falsely labeled as local catch.

Stark evidence of this came just last year, when an iconic Mississippi restaurant shocked the Gulf Coast by pleading guilty to selling more than 29 tons of mislabeled seafood, which led to a fine of more than $1 million and a prison sentence for the manager of the restaurant’s seafood distributor. The restaurant served what it called fresh Gulf seafood, like red snapper and grouper, when it was actually selling cheaper foreign imports to unwitting customers.

This was not an isolated incident, but a warning sign.

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