South Carolina's Dirty Little Secret.

Fresh local seafood (with the exception of oysters and maybe some shrimp) is a farce in South Carolina. The way the state regulates commercial fishing and game fish designators makes it nearly impossible to obtain fresh locally harvested seafood, unless of course, you go out and pull it from the water yourself. In fact, the majority of “fresh seafood” one would find at a market here is of the same quality (and origination) that one would find in say Kansas City or Denver… which is to say, from foreign waters (farmed or otherwise) from a delivery truck, empirically not a local fisherman’s net.

If you’ve been to any of the higher priced establishments around Beaufort County you’ve probably noticed fancy wording for otherwise ordinary fish. This is not just for the air of sophistication; it likely has a lot to do with the fact that the ordinary (aka local) version of the very same fish is not available commercially. Case in point: An area restaurant sells “Dorado” (for almost $30 a plate). Dorado is the South American import version of Dolphin fish or mahi-mahi (all are the same fish by the way). 30 bucks for some frozen South American fish? How fresh is that?

Some restaurants claim to “specialize in fresh local seafood” but that’s a far cry from guaranteeing the locality (maybe one dish on the menu entails local oysters or shrimp) and is misleading at best. At any rate most seafood restaurants are banking on customers assuming that since they are located close to the water, therefore must have fresh and/or local seafood… which in actuality is not the case at all.

That’s not to say the area is devoid of tasty seafood fair, but my point is just because you’re this close to the water doesn’t mean you’re getting fish from that same water, which is a damn shame.

There’s a glimmer of hope. The backlash from cheap Chinese imports has caused outright bans and brought prominence to quality local shrimp.

It’s time we demand better. Make informed food choices and assume nothing. Ask for local seafood from your food server or fishmonger.

For more info checkout the South Carolina seafood Alliance.