DNA Testing of Shrimp Being Done During Festival
By Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media
October 9, 2025
GULF SHORES, AL. The National Shrimp Festival is happening this weekend in Gulf Shores, bringing plenty of food choices, music, crafts and fun along with something new and different.
SeaD Consulting has partnered this year with the festival to ensure that all shrimp sold at the Annual National Shrimp Festival comply with new state seafood labeling laws.
The partnership originated due to sponsorship by the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama (OSAA).
SeaD will work alongside Chandra Wright, our volunteer Chief Shrimp Investigator to make sure our vendors are complying with state laws.”
Alabama’s seafood labeling law took effect last year and requires sellers of fish or shellfish to disclose if the fish or shellfish is domestic or foreign and whether the fish or shellfish is farm-raised or wild-caught.
“For more than a decade now, our contracts state that vendors must use domestic shrimp. If they are caught using imported shrimp, they are subject to a fine and even dismissal from the festival,” Barnas said. “The problem was that it took weeks for DNA testing to come back. SeaD’s technology provides inexpensive, portable genetic testing equipment that enables us to get results in just a few hours.”
“With SeaD’s new testing, we can make sure these bad actors are found out in a short time, and we are proud to sponsor the testing.”
SeaD Consulting works with seafood producers, researchers, governments and environmental advocates to promote sustainability and truth in seafood sourcing. SeaD holds the patent for the Rapid ID Genetic High-Accuracy Test (RIGHTTest) and leads landmark studies across the Gulf and beyond.
“We developed this technology because we are passionate about preserving the seafood industry along the Gulf Coast”, SeaD Consulting President David Williams said. “We are proud to bring authentication testing of shrimp dishes to the Shrimp Festival and looking forward to this first year of partnership.”
“I’m honored to serve as the first Chief Shrimp Investigator. While it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek and we want to have fun with it, there’s a serious mission behind it,” Chandra Wright said. “With 52 years of festival history, we want to get back to its original intention to celebrate our local shrimping industry. The hardworking men and women who harvest, process and market our Gulf shrimp need and deserve our support. I’m looking forward to getting to know our vendors throughout the week as I learn more about their dishes and what kinds of shrimp they are serving. I’m also excited to work with the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama and SeaD Consulting to talk to festival attendees about our Gulf shrimp and why it’s important to our history and our economy.”
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