>> buying water/ice at $15/lb....
that's one of the things that always bothered me about buying shrimp "over the counter"
in our location, except for mussels and clams - "fresh never frozen" seafood is a rarity. happens with some high end salmon and steelhead. highly seasonal; very limited supply. take two wallets when shopping . . .
depending on one's 'timing' at the shrimp counter, been always bugged by the large amounts of ice. if the frozen-going-to-thaw shrimp are relatively 'fresh' under the glass, huge amounts of ice going on the scale.
once upon a time I came across the fish monger 'replenishing' the counter. she was cutting open two pound bags - the same thing that's in the frozen section - and dumping them into a tray to thaw under glass. well, thought I, I can buy a frozen bag and thaw them meself to the exact quantity I need versus guesstimating a pound qty.... frozen stock is my current practice.
and I learned the sea scallops are the same deal - they simply open a bag of the frozen stuff "over there on that shelf." however when the store mis-estimates the supply-and-demand bit (the fish monger retired, her replacement is not up to the required fin-abilities....) I've twice gotten nice fat scallops only to find they reek to high heaven - and had to take them back. fortunately, I'm close enough to the supermarket that the dinner schedule wasn't severely impacted. but sure got my dander in a dander....
anyway, getting to the end of this shaggy dog story - just bought a 2 lb bag of wild caught, sustainable, domestic/Gulf shrimp, 21-16 count.
so I weighed it. it weighs in at (non-trade legal scale) at 2 lbs 5.5 ounces. allowing one ounce for the bag, that's 2lb 4.5 ounces of shrimp, which is an 'over pack' of 4.5 ounces and (4.5/32=0.14) is 14.0635% by weight "free"
but that's not the end of the story. "underweight" packaging is the number one way to find oneself in court. packing oatmeal, one can quite accurately reach the fill weight.... one oat flake does not weigh so much.... but for shrimp, it's plus or minus one shrimp to make the advertised sold weight. hence, if the package is the slightest bit 'underweight' the packager must add one shrimp.
21-26 count,
the largest shrimp is 0.761905 ounces, or 2.381% of a 32 ounce bag
the smallest shrimp is 0.0615385 ounces, or 1.923% of a 32 ounce bag.
deducting those percentages from the 14+% "over pack" puts the whole deal above and beyond the "10% water" charged at $X/lb.
this is of course just a mathematical exercise on one single bag. regulatory agencies don't get all that excited about one bag - they get excited about "whole skids / cases" of product that consistently turn up "under weight"
the point? there is one.... if you're buying ice encrusted shrimp/scallops/fish over the counter, you're not buying a "2 lb package that (may) weigh more than two pounds" - they put the ice encrusted product on a scale and you _are_ paying $x/lb for "ice and all" _exactly_
the heavy duty shoppers have certainly noticed that shrimp - as an example - is often 'on sale' - and frequently as a 'loss leader' - a price per pound seriously less per pound than the "frozen bag on the other shelf"
if the shrimp is not ice encrusted, major deal for use "today" - otherwise could be iffy depending on the 'discount'
the same analysis applies to scallops - but note that plus or minus one scallop is a bigger percentage / weight than one shrimp.
so today I bought a one pound bag, frozen - 10-20 scallops per pound (now there's a "range",,,,,)
weighs in (using one ounce for the bag) at 1 lb 2-3/8 ounces. that's 14.84% "overweight"
did not do the % by count analysis as a 100% variation in count (the 10-20/lb thing) is a bit way out.
so, them be yelling about paying for 10% water might actually be a smidge misguided.....