Saving Seafood

DNA testing of Gulf Coast restaurants’ shrimp reveals continued mislabeling

October 23, 2025 —  A follow-up investigation conducted by SeaD Consulting using its RIGHTTest™ (Rapid ID Genetic High-Accuracy Test) has revealed new insights into shrimp sourcing integrity at Gulf Coast restaurants.

The retesting, part of an ongoing regional study supported by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), found both encouraging signs of progress and persistent misrepresentation in the labeling and sourcing of shrimp served to local diners.

SeaD Consulting was previously commissioned by the SSA in March this year to conduct genetic tests on shrimp dishes from 44 restaurants in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Foley.

Fifty percent of restaurants from SeaD’s March’s DNA testing were randomly selected for follow-up. Of the 22 restaurants retested this month, findings show that 10 out of 22 were serving imports (46%) compared to 19 out of 44 (43%) previously tested in March 2025.

In October last year, Alabama legislators enacted the Alabama Seafood Labeling Law, which requires establishments to disclose the country of origin and whether seafood is wild-caught or farm-raised. The Alabama Department of Public Health is tasked with enforcing this law.

Read the full article at Gulf Coast Media

Lawmakers propose changes to US government’s artificial reef program

October 20, 2025 — A group of United States lawmakers have proposed tweaking federal law that allows offshore oil and gas operators to transform decommissioned rigs into artificial reefs, claiming the marine habitats support the domestic fishing industry.

According to the bill’s sponsors, offshore oil and gas platforms are already “thriving habitats for marine life,” and the Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection program would provide a pathway for companies to work with the state and federal governments to turn platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, currently referred to as the Gulf of America by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, into “permanent artificial reefs,” instead of fully removing them as required under current law.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Local fishers challenge Louisiana natural gas project

October 17, 2025 — Commercial fishers from the U.S. state of Louisiana have challenged the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a new natural gas project in their state, work on which resulted in dredged sediment spilling out into the surrounding marsh and burying crab taps and oyster beds.

“I’ve fished these waters most of my life. Since the first terminal came online, our catch has fallen off a cliff,” Cameron Parish, Louisiana-based commercial fisher Anthony Theriot said in a release. “More tankers mean more wake, more delays in the channel, and more mud stirred up where shrimp and oysters should be. The quality of our lives, air, and waters are declining, and FERC just approved this massive, incredibly harmful project on top of everything else. We’re fighting for a future where our kids can still work these waters.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALABAMA: Shrimp Festival Makes History: Imported Shrimp Vendors Stopped on the Spot

October 14, 2025 — The following was released by OSAA and SeaD Consulting:

Hi there,

For the first time in its 52-year history, the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores enforced shrimp authenticity in real time — with DNA testing by SeaD Consulting funded by the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama (OSAA).
Using SeaD’s RIGHTTest™ technology, shrimp served at the festival was verified on-site in under two hours, allowing Chief Shrimp Investigator (CSI) Chandra Wright and her team to identify vendors selling imported shrimp. Those vendors were immediately fined and prohibited from selling shrimp until they could show proof and retesting was conducted on their dishes.
“This was a defining moment for Alabama’s seafood industry,” said Ernie Anderson, President of OSAA. “If you’re promoting wild-caught Gulf shrimp, that’s exactly what you should be serving. With this technology, we can finally ensure that promise is kept.”
Wright added, “The RIGHTTest changed everything. For the first time, we could protect consumers and stand up for our shrimpers — right there, in real time.”
The partnership between OSAA, SeaD Consulting, and the National Shrimp Festival has set a new national benchmark for authenticity and accountability — ensuring that local celebrations truly support local industries.

ALABAMA: A year after embarrassing results, DNA testing returns to Alabama shrimp festival

October 10, 2025 — The National Shrimp Festival, taking place in Gulf Shores, Alabama, U.S.A., will now require all shrimp being sold at the four-day event to be tested to ensure they are local, wild-caught shellfish after random sampling at last year’s event found foreign shrimp being sold by multiple vendors.

“It’s important for everyone – distributors, processors, restaurants, and festivals – to ensure they are serving the wild-caught local shrimp they claim to offer,” Henry Barnes, the mayor of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, said in a release. “Our community depends on it. When a festival like this leads with authenticity, it sets a standard for everyone else to follow.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Scientists study Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning off Northeast U.S.

October 10, 2025 — Scientists are getting closer to understanding how Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn between the Gulf Stream and the continental shelf off New England, possibly a third important breeding area in addition to the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea.

The Slope Sea off the Northeast U.S. coast has been studied over the past decade in the belief it contributes to bluefin tuna stock mixing between the two long-known east and west breeding populations.

During summer 2025 scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducted two exploratory surveys to examine how bluefin tuna use this area for reproduction. A cooperative survey with commercial longline fishermen sought adult spawning tuna, and a second survey soon after sampled Northeast waters for bluefin tuna larvae.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Science, Jobs, and Balance: Rethinking Louisiana’s Menhaden Buffer Zone

October 6, 2025 — Louisiana’s working coast has long depended on the Gulf menhaden fishery – a sustainable industry that supports more than 2,000 jobs, contributes $419 million annually, generates $25 million in state and local tax revenue, and purchases $62 million in goods and services from 32 parishes. Yet, despite this enormous positive impact, recent regulatory changes threaten to undermine this lifeline industry and the communities that depend on it.

At issue is the decision to extend the state’s menhaden buffer zone in recent years. Historically, the fishery operated along the Inside/Outside Line and Double Rig Line – longstanding boundaries for commercial fishing that had already limited where menhaden vessels could operate. In 2021, the buffer zone was extended by one-quarter mile, and again in 2024 to a half-mile from the original line.

While these changes may sound incremental, the impact has been anything but small. The half-mile restriction has excluded thousands of acres of historically productive fishing grounds. In just 3 years, the industry experienced a 25% reduction in fish caught. For an industry already operating on tight margins, this loss is unsustainable, harming not only the companies that fish for menhaden but also thousands of Louisiana families whose livelihoods depend on this fishery.

An Industry That Fuels Local Economies

Louisiana’s menhaden industry is powered by two companies – Westbank Fishing out of Empire, LA (Plaquemines Parish) and Ocean Harvesters out of Abbeville, LA (Vermilion Parish). Contrary to the misinformation that has been spread, both these companies are U.S.-based, U.S.-owned and are totally controlled by U.S. citizens. Together with the two processing companies (Daybrook Fisheries and Omega Protein), they employ more than 800 people directly on vessels and in processing plants, while another 1,200 jobs ripple across rural communities through suppliers, service companies, and transportation providers. These are stable, year-round jobs that anchor small-town economies in parishes where economic opportunities are limited.

Read the full article at The Advocate

MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi Sound Coalition asks US Congress to take up legislation addressing challenges to the river basin

October 3, 2025 — The Mississippi Sound Coalition has drafted a 33-page piece of legislation to overhaul management of the Mississippi River basin, and it’s now asking the state’s representation in Congress to take up the bill.

The group said the legislation is necessary in order to address some of the larger challenges facing the river basin, which stretches across 31 states. Issues like the annual Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” and floodwater control affect multiple states, requiring a more holistic approach, they claim.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Feds seek to reauthorize marine mammal harassment rule

September 30, 2025 — A bureau at NOAA is pushing the agency to reimplement an existing rule for how seismic testing affects marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the rule’s expiration next spring.

If extended, the rule would reauthorize harassment of marine mammals by oil and gas industry companies that conduct seismic tests in the Gulf, which President Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of America earlier this year.

In an August letter, Director Jennifer Wallace of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Policy wrote to the head of the Office of Protected Resources asking that the current rule be reimplemented going forward. That rule includes monitoring requirements, efforts by companies to detect marine mammals and maximum harassment levels.

Read the full article at E&E News

NOAA identifies 21,000 acres suitable for commercial aquaculture development

September 25, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries has identified 21,000 acres of ocean off the coast of California and in the Gulf of Mexico, now called the Gulf of America by the Trump Administration, that it claims would be suitable for offshore aquaculture development.

The announcement follows up on an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term, which charged NOAA Fisheries with establishing 10 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOA) by 2025. According to the order, AOAs would be sites predetermined by the government to be suitable for commercial aquaculture.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource