Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Louisiana moves to reshape fisheries commission

March 31, 2026 — A proposed constitutional amendment moving through the Louisiana Legislature could give the state’s governor significantly more influence over the body that sets fishing and hunting policy– but not everyone is on board.

As reported by the Louisiana Illuminator, the Louisiana Senate Committee on Natural Resources voted unanimously this week to advance a measure that would expand the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission from seven to nine voting members. The bill was authored by Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen.

The commission is a constitutionally protected body that has been setting wildlife and fisheries policy since 1952, with rulemaking authority granted in 1972. It controls budgets and regulations for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, including commercial and recreational fishing seasons and harvest limits.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Testing During Lent Reveals 50% of Shrimp Dishes Were Imported/Farm- raised in US 190 Corridor Restaurants

March 31, 2026 — The following was released by SeaD Consulting:

SeaD Consulting today announced the results of genetic testing using its Rapid ID Genetic High-accuracy Test (RIGHTTest) conducted on shrimp dishes served at restaurants across the US 190 Corridor in Louisiana. Testing, conducted during Lenten season—a period of heightened seafood consumption in the region’s deeply rooted Catholic community—revealed that 50% of sampled restaurants (12 of 24) were serving imported/farm-raised shrimp. Of these, 38% of sampled restaurants (9 of 24) explicitly claimed to be serving American wild-caught shrimp.

Starting from Krotz Springs through Opelousas, visiting towns like Eunice and ending in Kinder, the corridor was selected to demonstrate what a typical road trip through Louisiana, with seafood restaurant stops along the way, might look like to a consumer. The area is known for its strong Louisiana heritage and tradition of homestyle cooking, such as plate lunches, and sees a surge in seafood demand during Lent. Shrimp dishes—particularly po’boys and fried platters—are widely served in gas stations, small cafés, and local eateries where consumers expect authentic, locally sourced shrimp.

Between the sampling dates of March 17–19, 2026, SeaD teams conducted random genetic testing of 24 restaurants along the 190 Corridor. Samples were analyzed to determine whether shrimp marketed or described as American wild-caught shrimp were authentic.

Key Findings

12 of 24 restaurants (50%) were confirmed to be serving American wild-caught shrimp

12 of 24 restaurants (50%) were serving imported/farm-raised shrimp while implying or representing American wild-caught origin

9 of 24 restaurants (38%) explicitly claimed to be serving American wild-caught shrimp either through staff verbalization or menu description

3 of 24 restaurants (12%) correctly identified they were serving imported/farm-raised shrimp

These findings highlight a significant gap between consumer expectations and verified sourcing in a community where seafood plays both a cultural and religious role. Testing occurred during Lent, when consumer reliance on seafood increases significantly.

Louisiana Labeling Law Compliance Concerns

Louisiana law requires restaurants serving imported shrimp to clearly disclose that information to consumers through signage or menu language.

SeaD’s findings indicate widespread non-compliance among the restaurants found to be serving imports. In multiple cases, shrimp was marketed, labeled, or verbally represented as American wild-caught despite genetic testing confirming imported/farm-raised origin—creating a high likelihood of consumer deception during a peak seafood season.

Andrew Blanchard, Head of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force, said, “With Lent being one of the most important seafood seasons in Louisiana, it is critical that consumers can trust what they are being served. When imported shrimp is passed off as local catch—especially in communities like Eunice where seafood traditions run deep—it harms both consumers and the livelihoods of Louisiana shrimpers. We are prepared to share these findings with the Louisiana Department of Health for further review.”

Restaurants Identified in Testing

The following 190 Corridor establishments were found to be serving American wild-caught shrimp:

B + B Boiling Shack — 17607 US-190, Port Barre, LA 70577

Billy’s Boudin & Cracklins — 24467 US-190, Krotz Springs, LA 70750

Crawfish Corner — 529 S Union St, Opelousas, LA 70570

DC’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse — 1601 W Laurel Ave, Eunice, LA 70535

Fausto’s Family Restaurant — 14514 US-165, Kinder, LA 70648

Joe’s Sandwich Shop — 1633 W Vine St, Opelousas, LA 70570

Lawtell Food Mart, F&M Quick Stop — 10477 Prejean Hwy, Lawtell, LA 70550

Mo’ Crawfish — 29017 Crowley Eunice Hwy, Eunice, LA 70535

Morrow’s Diner — 24442 US-190, Krotz Springs, LA 70750

Rascal’s Cajun Express — 17681 Hwy 190 Port Barre, LA 70577

Sebastien’s West End Seafood — 1538 W Landry St, Opelousas, LA 70570

Soileau’s Dinner Club — 1618 N Main St, Opelousas, LA 70570

Context and Consumer Impact

SeaD’s 190 Corridor testing underscores ongoing challenges in seafood transparency across Louisiana markets. The high rate of misrepresentation—particularly during Lent—raises concerns about:

· Consumer trust in local seafood establishments

· Economic impact on Louisiana shrimpers during peak demand periods

· The need for stronger enforcement of seafood labeling laws

· The importance of accurate menu descriptions and staff communication

Maintaining the integrity of Louisiana’s seafood brand depends on restaurants truthfully delivering on what they are claiming to serve—and what most diners are expecting.

About the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force

The Louisiana Shrimp Task Force advises the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and related agencies on protecting and promoting the state’s wild shrimp industry. The group works to strengthen transparency, local economies, and seafood quality for consumers.

Court finds Gulf of Mexico fishery council appointments unconstitutional

March 30, 2026 — A federal appeals court in Louisiana has found that members of a Gulf of Mexico fishery council were unconstitutionally selected for their positions, but the judges stopped short of striking down a council plan to curtail the catch of a large saltwater fish.

The ruling issued Friday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a partial win for a group of commercial fishers of the greater amberjack who had challenged the legality of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and, by extension, sought to block the catch limits.

Because the council’s unconstitutional powers were not used in making its recommendation, the court need not toss out a NOAA Fisheries rule that implemented the catch limits, the panel of 5th Circuit judges found.

Read the full article at E&E News

The man who keeps the menhaden fleet running

March 25, 2026 — Out of Empire, Louisiana, the menhaden fleet doesn’t just catch fish. It sustains families, funds local businesses, and anchors one of the few steady industries in low Plaquemines Parish. And when something goes wrong on the water, Casey Devillier is the one who fixes it.

The Louisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition shared Devillier’s story. He has worked for Westbank Fishing for 23 years, and though his title is vessel manager, the role goes far beyond the name. “I handle anything electrical on the boats. And that ends up being a lot.”

He oversees 12 menhaden fishing vessels and 24 smaller purse boats, each relying on interlocking systems- engines, generators, refrigeration, hydraulics, radar, autopilot, steering controls, and onboard electronics. When any one of them fails during the short fishing season, the clock starts ticking immediately.

“The main engines are critical,” he says. “But refrigeration is just as important. If that goes down, you have serious problems.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Rooted in Plaquemines Parish: A Life in Louisiana’s Menhaden Industry

March 9, 2026 — Along Louisiana’s coast, the menhaden industry has quietly powered local economies for generations – providing industrial jobs, rebuilding communities after disasters, and allowing families to stay rooted in rural coastal parishes. The small, silvery fish harvested in the Gulf are processed into high-protein fish meal and nutrient-rich oil used in aquaculture, pet food, agriculture, and other essential products. In Plaquemines Parish, that work supports families, schools, and small businesses.

For Travis Harvey, it has supported an entire life.

This will be my 29th fishing season,” Harvey says. “I started when I was 20 years old. This is all I’ve ever done, and all I ever wanted to do.”

Harvey is Plant Manager at Daybrook Fisheries in Empire, LA, the processing partner to Westbank Fishing. But his story is less about job titles and more about roots.

Growing Up Seven Miles Away

Harvey was born and raised in Home Place, just seven miles from the plant.

“I’ve never really left,” he says. “After Katrina we evacuated for a few months, but we came back and rebuilt. I’ve always wanted to stay right here.”

In a rural parish where many young people feel pressure to move away to find opportunity, Harvey considers that a gift.

Read the full article at the Advocate

LOUISIANA: As Louisiana’s Wetlands Erode, A Fishing Culture Fights to Survive

March 4, 2026 — I grew up fishing these waters down here just like everyone down in Shell Beach,” says Brad Robin, whose family has lived here for generations. “We never had a bike ride in the streets. We had a pirogue battle in the canals,” he says, referring to the lightweight canoes used to navigate the marshlands here.

Like many of those who live in and around Shell Beach, a small fishing community 30 miles southeast of New Orleans, Robin’s ancestors were immigrants from the Canary Islands. Between 1778 and 1783, an estimated 2,000 Canary Islanders arrived in New Orleans, receiving land, a home, and a monthly stipend from Spain. Over time, these immigrants settled in the coastal towns of St. Bernard Parish, including Shell Beach, where they developed their own cultural identity as “Isleños.”

For over 200 years, the Isleños have provided for themselves by catching shrimp, fish, and oysters in the coastal wetlands of southeast Louisiana, passing their vocation on to their descendants and creating a way of life that follows the ever-changing tides of the Gulf of Mexico. “The natural environment has shaped the cultural heritage and legacy of everyone who’s here,” says St. Bernard Parish historian and 11th-generation Isleño William Hyland.

Isleño culture is defined by a spirit of reciprocity, one that extends to the kitchen, where families spend hours transforming daily seafood catches into traditional communal meals. Some favorite dishes: Besugo al Horno (baked red snapper with potatoes), Stuffed Mirlitons (chayote squash filled with crabmeat) and Gambas al Ajillo (garlic shrimp).

Read the full article at Civil Eats

LOUISIANA: In departure from norm, Coast Guard demands immigration papers on Louisiana docks

February 18, 2026 — Since November, the U.S. Coast Guard—the military branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — has conducted regular raids at Louisiana fishing docks and in Louisiana bayous to arrest immigrant deckhands and oyster harvesters.

Seafood workers say that the Coast Guard, in a departure from the norm, has conducted about seven sweeps since early November, resulting in multiple arrests. They have concentrated efforts 40 minutes east of New Orleans, around Hopedale, a small unincorporated fishing community in St. Bernard Parish that’s composed of a string of docks lining a single road, Hopedale Highway.

The raids at the quiet St. Bernard Parish docks, and on the surrounding waters of Biloxi Marsh, conducted largely out of public view, are surprising to local immigration attorneys, seafood industry owners, and workers — because the Coast Guard has not historically conducted immigration enforcement at inland docks.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter told The Lens that he didn’t agree with the shift in Coast Guard priorities, and that he worried it could divert resources from the Coast Guard’s work in Louisiana that keeps river traffic moving and rescues people after disasters.

“Trump’s reckless Department of Homeland Security has placed deportations above all other priorities, making Louisianans less safe,” Carter said. “This has pulled our service members away from investigations into illicit activities and actual criminals that are endangering our communities.”

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator

LOUISIANA: More than 900 Louisiana restaurants cited for violating new seafood labeling law in 2025

February 13, 2026 — More than 900 restaurants were cited in 2025 for violating Louisiana’s new seafood labeling law, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.

First passed in 2019, the law requires restaurants to disclose either on their menu or with a clear public sign whether the crawfish and shrimp they sell is imported. First-time violations result in a fine of up to USD 500 (EUR 421), and repeat violations can increase fines up to USD 2,000 (EUR 1,685).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Louisiana wildlife agents use drone to spot illegal oyster harvesting

February 12, 2026 — Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries used an aerial drone to spot an individual illegally harvesting hundreds of pounds of oysters in February.

While on an early morning patrol of the Sister Lake Oyster Seed Reservation 3 February, agents decided to fly an aerial drone overhead to observe an individual harvesting oysters from a vessel. Oyster season in the area had already been closed for more than a month.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Louisiana shrimpers reject CCA menhaden messaging

February 2, 2026 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association issued a sharp public response this week after it said CCA Louisiana tagged the group in a Facebook post it described as an attempt to draw shrimpers into an attack on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery.

According to their site, CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) Louisiana is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Louisiana’s marine resources. Their work also includes influencing how the state’s fisheries are managed, including pushing for regulatory outcomes that often conflict with commercial fishing perspectives.

Saving Seafood reported what the shrimpers wrote in a statement, “Let us be absolutely clear about where we stand…attempting to drag us into their ongoing attack on commercial fisheries.” Showing CCA’s broader campaign against working fishermen.

In the statement, the shrimpers pointed to what they described as a long series of policy losses for commercial fishermen in Louisiana, including the loss of gill net fisheries, restrictions on mullet fishing, and the designation of redfish and speckled trout as game fish- moves they said have steadily narrowed access to traditional fisheries.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman