In 2024, a Biloxi restaurant was discovered selling imported seafood labeled as “premium, locally caught fish.” After multiple court cases, the restaurant was fined more than $1.49 million. To prevent further confusion and wrongdoing, several states have since passed laws forbidding the sale of mislabeled seafood. Now, a Mississippi senator is taking that effort to the national level.
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) introduced a bill to the U.S. Senate on Oct. 28, 2025, that would prohibit the sale of imported seafood labeled as domestic.
“This bill will ensure American consumers know exactly where their seafood comes from,” Hyde-Smith said.
The introduction of this bill comes within a five-year period that has seen Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida all pass similar laws at the state level.
The Let Americans Buy with Explicit Labeling Act, or LABEL Act, is co-sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who said, “I’m proud to join Senator Hyde-Smith in this legislation that bolsters American seafood production, promotes safe seafood consumption, and protects our domestic producers.”
Roughly 65% of the United States’ seafood industry relies on imports from countries such as Canada, Indonesia and Vietnam. These imports, valued at $20.3 billion, outweigh the domestic market, which raises more than 600 million pounds of seafood through wild-caught fisheries and fish farms.
Mississippi is among the nation’s largest seafood producers, ranking high in catfish, oysters, tuna and grouper production. Alabama is also a leading producer, known for its shrimp, oysters and catfish industries.
Hyde-Smith said that while consumers deserve to know the origin of their food, the bill would also “give our domestic fishermen and producers a fair chance to compete.”
The LABEL Act states that seafood packaging must include a label indicating its country of origin “in a font that is not smaller than the font size describing the farm-raised or wild fish on the package, display, holding unit, or bin.”
Some organizations have expressed support for the legislation, including the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
“We are grateful for this bill that would prevent imported shrimp from stealing the strong reputation of U.S. wild-caught shrimp,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
Tuberville has also spoken in defense of domestic seafood producers.
“American producers have been undercut by foreign producers dumping their low-quality seafood into our markets,” he said. “There’s no better source for fish and seafood than Alabama ponds and the Gulf of America, and we want people to know where their food is coming from.”
The bill is currently in the introduction stage due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
For more information or to follow the LABEL Act’s progress, visit congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3065.
