U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, and David Vitter, R-La. support SSA petition

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS - After enduring years of plummeting dockside prices, American shrimpers filed a dumping petition against six countries on Wednesday in hopes of shoring up a fishery ravaged by competition from cheap pond-raised shrimp imports.

The shrimp group's action immediately drew the support of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and U.S. Reps. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, and David Vitter, R-La.

The group claims that the value of the U.S. harvest dropped by more than half between 2000 and 2002, from $1.25 billion to $560 million.

The petition was filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission in Washington, and it asks the federal government to impose duties on shrimp from China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Ecuador and Brazil. A dumping petition is a trade lawsuit that alleges unfair market practices.

By mid-February, the International Trade Commission is expected to rule whether the industry has suffered from imports.

The Alliance would not say how much it thinks the price for American shrimp could rebound if tariffs are imposed.

"I'm not going to predict today what will happen in the market," said Deborah Regan, a spokeswoman for the Alliance.

"The goal here is the elimination of unfair trade," Ward said.

In September, the Biloxi City Council unanimously passed a motion in support of Coast shrimpers, expressing concern about the tremendous volume of imported shrimp and the "detrimental impact" it has had on domestic shrimpers. According to the Alliance, more than 1 billion pounds of shrimp are imported to the U.S. annually, and some of the leading suppliers, such as China and Brazil, have increased their volume of imports by more than 61 percent in the past year.

"If it keeps going the way it's going, we won't have a shrimping industry," said Richard Gollott, an executive with Golden Gulf Coast Packing Co., who is also a board member of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. Gollott made his comments before the City Council vote.

Fishermen pushed for the petition because they felt that trade action was the only way to stay in business.

After 2001, the European Union and Japan clamped down on shrimp imports because of health concerns about antibiotics in farm-raised shrimp. That forced many exporters into the American market, and contributed to the drop in prices.

According to the Alliance, there has been a 40 percent drop in employment at shrimp factories in Southern states since 2000.