Before sunrise at the Tampa shrimp docks, Justin Versaggi starts another day managing boats his family has operated for more than a century.
Since 1912, the Versaggi family has worked in Florida’s shrimp industry. Today, Justin represents the fourth generation trying to keep that tradition alive as American shrimpers face growing pressure from imported seafood tied to exploitative labor practices abroad, creating lower-cost products that domestic shrimpers struggle to compete against.
“It’s mainly the imports. It’s been absolutely crippling, and it’s just not fair,” Justin said.
“We can’t compete with foreign… sweatshop-type labor.”
Justin owns a fleet of shrimp boats that operate year round, working closely with captains, crews and fishermen who spend weeks at a time on the water harvesting domestic wild-caught shrimp.
Justin says the issue is not about criticizing workers abroad, but about ensuring labor abuses are not used to undercut American workers. “We don’t want to force anybody to work under those conditions,” he said.
Shrimpers across the Gulf Coast say unfair foreign competition has pushed the industry to a breaking point. Imported shrimp tied to exploitative labor practices and forced labor has driven down prices and made it increasingly difficult for American shrimpers to compete on a level playing field.
The administration and industry advocates have raised concerns about labor abuses tied to portions of the global seafood supply chain. The Department of Labor’s ILAB has listed shrimp produced in India, Burma and Thailand as goods being produced with forced labor, and shrimp from Bangladesh and Cambodia as being produced with child labor through its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.
“That just doesn’t seem right to me. I don’t think it seems right to anybody,” Justin said. “We just want a fair chance.”
American shrimpers argue they are being forced to compete against foreign operations benefitting from abusive labor practices that should never be allowed, exploitation that we would never allow in the United States – driving artificially low costs and making it harder for domestic producers to compete on a level playing field.
The issue is not just about seafood prices: it is about preserving American jobs and the communities they support. Justin says pressures from unfair foreign competition affect not only the boat owners, but also captains, crews, processors, and coastal communities that depend on the domestic seafood industry for jobs and economic stability. He noted that while thousands of shrimping vessels once operated across the Gulf Coast, only a fraction remain active today.
“We’re really nothing without our fishermen,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Justin says Gulf shrimpers continue adapting and fighting to preserve the industry for future generations. He hopes one day his children could become the fifth generation of his family to continue the business. “This culture is a culture worth saving,” he said.
ILAB is working to help expose labor abuses tied to imported seafood products and strengthen enforcement efforts aimed at keeping goods made with forced labor out of U.S. supply chains. Through its research and reporting, ILAB helps shine a light on unfair labor practices overseas that can undercut American workers, suppress domestic production, and distort competition—and informs enforcement of a forced labor import ban by Customs and Border Protection.
Those efforts align with broader Trump administration actions to restore the competitiveness of American seafood producers. The administration has emphasized stronger enforcement against unfair trade practices, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign supply chains tied to labor abuse, and supporting industries that sustain American jobs.
For shrimpers like Justin, the stakes are deeply personal. Restoring fairness to global seafood markets is about ensuring American workers like him can compete and win in global trade. Efforts to confront forced labor and crack down on unfair foreign competition can help preserve the future of American industries and the communities that depend on them.