Imported Shrimp
Next time you’re dipping into your shrimp cocktail or dunking your fried shrimp, ask yourself if you want that dish with a side of rat hair. No? Imported shrimp regularly comes in as the dirtiest seafood in the dirty dozen, because of the number of contaminants found in these crustaceans, which include chemical residues, mouse or rat hair, insect bits, and banned antibiotics. When you’re buying shrimp, opt for Gulf Coast shrimp or pink shrimp from Oregon instead, They undergo much more rigorous inspections, as opposed to imported shrimp - which face testing on less than two percent of imported stock.
Atlantic Flatfish
Rather than being one species, this group of fish includes species like flounder and sole, which are caught in the Atlantic Ocean. Not only are these bottom-feeding fish heavily contaminated, but overfishing has brought these species down to as little as one percent of the population required for sustainable long-term fishing. While Pacific halibut is faring better than its Atlantic counterpart, experts suggest replacing these fish with other mild fish, such as tilapia.
Imported “King Crab”
Much of our nation’s imported king crab (up to 70 percent) comes from Russia, which doesn’t have the same stringent harvest limits as domestic king crab fishermen face. Furthermore, imported king crab is often mislabeled as Alaskan king crab, because of a mistaken assumption that this is the name of the species. Alaskan king crab is responsibly harvested under strict guidelines - so it’s important to ask where your crab is coming from, whether you’re shopping at the grocery store or dining out, and demand domestic instead.