Politics & Government

Are Diners Eating Maryland Crabs or Imports?

A Montgomery County delegate has introduced a bill that would require Maryland markets and restaurants to label fish by their common names and list country of origin.

When is a crab not a crab? Perhaps when it is imported to Maryland from another state or country.

Del. Eric Luedtke of Montgomery County has introduced a bill that would require markets and restaurants to identify the state or country of origin of their crabs, reports WTOP. He says Maryland diners will pay top dollar for local crabmeat.

"We believe that if you go into a restaurant, you should know if the crab meat you're ordering is from Maryland or from somewhere else," Luedtke says.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says while much of the crab eaten by Americans is wild-caught in U.S. waters, but the United States also imports everything from whole crabs to crab meat from Canada, Asia and South America, says WTOP.

Luedtke's bill would prohibit restaurants and markets from knowingly misidentifying fish species and require them to clearly label fish by their common names.

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