Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: How one NC fish house ships fresh catch to seafood markets across US

July 8, 2026 — On a late March morning, barrels full of slippery bluefish straight off the boat glistened in the sun at O’Neal’s Sea Harvest in Wanchese. Within hours, the fresh catch would be shipped to seafood markets stretching from Canada to Louisiana.

“You try to get it in and out as quick as you can because it’s perishable,” said Ashley O’Neal. “They go on a truck today, and they’ll be wherever they are going by 2 or 3 o’clock tomorrow,” he said.

O’Neal’s Sea Harvest is one of several competitive fish houses on the southern tip of Roanoke Island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The family-owned company also operates a seafood market and restaurant in front of its fish process center in Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park.

Benny and Linda O’Neal started the business in 1995. Today, their three children, Nicole Harper and brothers Colby and Ashley O’Neal, along with their respective wives, Lara and Abby, operate it.

Read the full article at the Miami Herald

 

LOUISIANA: Louisiana expands red snapper limits for Fourth of July weekend

July 2, 2026 — State officials will temporarily expand the number of red snapper recreational anglers can take home in Louisiana for the Fourth of July holiday.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will allow those fishing in state coastal waters for red snapper to take home five fish per person per day, increased from the typical four-fish limit, Thursday through Sunday.

LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said the temporary increase is meant to encourage people to get outside and enjoy the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.

“Increasing our red snapper limit to five fish is a way we’d like to thank the anglers of our state as they enjoy this special holiday with family and friends,’’ Bosworth said in a statement.

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator

LOUISIANA: Louisiana governor signs commingled seafood labeling law

June 15, 2026 — Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed legislation requiring commingled seafood to be labeled as such, preventing wholesalers and retailers from mixing imported shrimp with domestic product and selling it as locally sourced.

“I was down in Lafitte today with … our local shrimpers to sign HB 857 into law. This bill finally puts teeth behind the rules by penalizing the sale of unlabeled and commingled seafood,” Landry said in a Facebook post after signing the bill on 11 June. “We’re protecting Louisiana jobs and defending our seafood industry!”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Louisiana Legislature Chose Balance on Menhaden: Stronger Oversight Without Sacrificing Coastal Jobs

June 8, 2026 — This article is brought to you by the Louisiana Commercial Fisheries Coalition LLC.

Louisiana’s menhaden fishery is often scrutinized from afar, which makes it easy to forget that behind the headlines are working families, multi-generational fishing operations, and blue-collar jobs in coastal communities like Plaquemines and Vermilion parishes, and localities in between, that depend on this resource.

That is why the commercial menhaden fishery approached this legislative session with a simple goal: work cooperatively with lawmakers on practical, science-based measures that improve transparency, reporting, and accountability, without inflicting unnecessary harm on the people who make their living on the water.

That is exactly what happened.

Lawmakers considered several proposals this session impacting where the menhaden fleet operates. The debate was sometimes heated, and some advocates cast the fishing industry as a villain. But our industry listened, engaged, and worked with the Legislature to advance reasonable measures while opposing proposals that would have imposed severe economic harm.

The Legislature chose to strengthen oversight and public confidence through better reporting, clearer accountability, and vessel-tracking requirements, while rejecting an approach that would have pushed the fishery into an unworkable corner.

First, HB 872 requires purse seine vessels engaged in commercial menhaden reduction fishing, to use Automatic Identification Systems. The larger steamers or mother ships are already equipped with the technology. AIS creates a vessel-location record that can support enforcement, improve accountability, and answer whether boats are respecting established boundaries. It will require industry investment in equipment, installation, maintenance, and compliance, but it is a practical and transparent bill.

Read the full article at the Advocate

Offshore Parity Act would help state shrimpers operate year-round, Mississippi official testifies

June 5, 2026 — A Mississippi state official testified in favor of expanding state fisheries control from three to nine nautical miles off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, a change proposed in the recently introduced Offshore Parity Act.

Advocates of the legislation claim it’s unfair that Texas and Florida are able to control fishing up to nine nautical miles off their coast, while the three other Gulf states only control three nautical miles due to the Submerged Lands Act of 1953. During a 3 June hearing held by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Executive Director Joe Spraggins told lawmakers it was critical to his state’s fishers to expand state control.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US senators expand inquiry into shrimp imports, sending questions to certification bodies

June 1, 2026 — U.S. senators have expanded their inquiry into imported shrimp, which they claim “poses serious risks to families’ health,” sending questions to three of the largest seafood certification bodies.

Together, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) have sent a list of questions to the Global Seafood Alliance, the Marine Stewardship Council, and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Louisiana legislature moves to prohibit comingling of imported, domestic shrimp

May 27, 2026 — Louisiana lawmakers are pushing to strengthen the state’s seafood labeling laws, passing legislation to prevent the comingling of imported and domestic shrimp.

HB 857 would require all comingled seafood to be labeled as such – retailers presenting comingled seafood as solely locally-sourced would be fined USD 15,000 (EUR 12,904). Fines would rise to USD 25,000 (EUR 21,506) and USD 50,000 (EUR 43,013) for a second and third offense, respectively.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Wildlife agents might soon need reasonable suspicion to stop boats in Louisiana

May 18, 2026 — Wildlife agents and other law enforcement personnel will no longer be able to randomly stop and board boats in Louisiana waters without reasonable suspicion of a crime under legislation  state lawmakers have approved.

House Bill 756, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Fontenot, R-Thibodaux, is on Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk after receiving unanimous approval from both chambers of the legislature and support from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Proponents say the measure will bring state law in line with the U.S. Constitution.

It would replace a law adopted in 1984 that allowed state Wildlife and Fisheries agents to randomly stop and board boats in state waters to perform safety checks.

In a brief interview Wednesday, Fontenot said his bill is part of a growing movement in some states to rein in certain law enforcement practices that have annoyed some boaters. Alabama recently enacted a law similar to the measure Louisiana is on the cusp of adopting, and Florida approved its version last year.

More than 20 states don’t require probable cause, which is a step after reasonable suspicion, for law enforcement to board boats, but that number is trending downward according to tracking data from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator 

LOUISIANA: Louisiana’s Menhaden Industry Marks Start of 2026 Season with Annual Blessing of the Fleet

May 11, 2026 — Louisiana’s menhaden fishing industry officially began the 2026 season on April 20, the day after the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Plaquemines Parish. The longstanding tradition brought together fishermen, their families, clergy and community members to pray for a safe and successful season. Held in Empire, the Blessing of the Fleet reflects generations of coastal heritage rooted in faith, family and a deep connection to the Gulf.

The full day of activities included boiled crawfish, lively conversations and children’s activities. There were also reflective moments, as captains and crew members bowed their heads on their menhaden steamers to pray for the coming months.

“The Blessing of the Fleet isn’t just about the season ahead,” said Francois Kuttel, President of Westbank Fishing. “It’s about recognizing the generations of hardworking fishermen who have made this industry what it is today.”

The event was also a time for Plaquemines Parish families to remember what the menhaden industry means to them. Dozens of attendees pointed out that the fishing season is a way of life for multiple generations. In fact, several noted that their parents, grandparents, adult children, cousins, in-laws and others have jobs that are directly tied to the menhaden industry.

“Daybrook and Westbank are invested in our community. They give us a chance to do something in our hometown,” said Sara Nelson, a lifelong resident of Empire and a six-year employee of Daybrook. “If I didn’t have this position here, I wouldn’t be able to live here.”

Read the full article at the Advocate

Gulf states push for offshore parity with 9-mile boundary bill

May 1, 2026 — A new bipartisan bill in Congress aims to level the playing field for the Gulf Coast states by expanding offshore boundaries for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Introduced by Rep. Troy Carter Sr., D-La., alongside Reps. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., Clay Higgins, R-La., and Shomari Figures, D-La., the Offshore Parity Act would extend state waters from three nautical miles out to nine– matching the boundaries long held by Texas and Florida.

Under current law, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have jurisdiction over just three nautical miles offshore, a limitation dating back to the Submerged Lands Act of 1953. Texas and Florida were granted broader authority, a disparity that Louisiana unsuccessfully challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1969 case United States v. Louisiana.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman