Saving Seafood

Growing in popularity, local seafood movement picks up US government support

December 22, 2021 — From Alaska to California to New York to Maine, hyper-local seafood purveyors throughout the United States have seen a boom in interest the COVID-19 pandemic – and federal, state, and local governments are taking notice.

As the result COVID’s drastic impact on seafood supply chains and the U.S. consumer market for seafood, the local seafood trend has thrived in the pandemic, from direct-to-consumer seafood subscription services, to community supported fisheries (CSFs), to fishermen banding together to form sales cooperatives such as Real Good Fish and Get Hooked Seafood in California, Local Catch Network in New England, and Louisiana Direct Seafood.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Here’s how to score some fresh seafood for dinner while helping local fishermen

April 20, 2020 — A program started almost a decade ago to help commercial fishermen locally and across Louisiana’s coast sell their catches directly to customers is paying off for some amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Stay-at-home orders and shutdowns the state has ordered in an effort to slow the deadly virus’s spread have closed or slowed business at many restaurants and markets, wreaking havoc on the supply chain upon which fishermen usually rely. Freezers at most large seafood processing companies were full, or filling up, and labor became unreliable.

That’s where Louisiana Direct Seafood comes in, says Robert Twilley, executive director of Louisiana Sea Grant, which launched the online-based program in 2011.

It helps commercial fishermen, shrimpers, crabbers and oyster harvesters sell a portion of their catch directly to the public at premium prices. And that helps offset sinking dockside prices due to imports, increased fuel costs and the financial struggles resulting from 2019′s spring floods.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Louisiana seafood businesses unite for broader sales

April 16, 2020 — Fisherman Lance Nacio, of Montegut, LA is trying to keep his struggling seafood business going, one sale at a time.

With curtailed restaurant operations, fishermen have had difficulty selling their catch.

Nacio, a third-generation fisherman, set up a pop-up sale in the parking lot of Randol’s Restaurant in Lafayette. April 9 was his second time to use this approach.

“It’s keeping us afloat. It’s opening our mind on new ways to move product,” he said.

The pop-up sale was promoted on the Louisiana Direct Seafood website and on Facebook.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has promoted the Louisiana Direct Seafood concept. On Facebook, the governor encouraged buying seafood.

Read the full story at The Magnolia Reporter

LOUISIANA: Purchasing local seafood is as important, easy as ever Gov. Edwards says

April 8, 2020 — Governor John Bel Edwards recommended Louisiana residents use an online source to find local seafood to support fishermen in the state during the coronavirus crisis.

During the Tuesday afternoon COVID-19 conference, Gov. Edwards said local businesses need your support now more than ever.

“I encourage everyone who is going to go out and buying seafood, purchase seafood that was caught in Louisiana by Louisiana fishermen, or packaged here, or produced here,” Edwards said Tuesday afternoon.

“The state’s fishing industry is still reeling from last year, which was particularly tough with the multiple openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and the floodwaters that put too much freshwater in certain areas of the state,” Edwards said.

Louisiana Direct Seafood is a website now available to make finding fresh, local seafood easy for residents.

Read the full story at WBRZ