Testing commissioned by the Southern Shrimp Alliance found more than three-quarters of the Mobile-area restaurants tested were serving domestic shrimp as advertised, while 23% were not.

Consulting firm SeaD has been using a proprietary rapid genetic test for more than a year now to gauge seafood authenticity in various markets in Southeastern states. Typically the firm conducts spot tests at about 40 restaurants in a given metropolitan area, though it also has targeted vendors at festivals.

The test identifies Pacific white shrimp, the species that represents the bulk of imported shrimp. A positive result means a restaurant or vendor was serving Pacific white shrimp, which presumably were imported; a negative result does not identify the species but the presumption is that it is one of s

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