Saving Seafood

Deadline extended: Louisiana commercial fishermen can apply for COVID-19 aid through Nov. 23

November 6, 2020 — Louisiana commercial fishermen and processors who have lost business because of the COVID-19 pandemic have until Nov. 23 to apply for a share of $14.6 million in federal aid.

The CARES Act, which Congress passed in March, provides $300 million to assist hard-hit fisheries across the U.S. Louisiana is receiving the eighth largest investment of those states and territories.

The original deadline to apply was Oct. 26. But hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta and their impact on Louisiana coastal areas prompted the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to extend the deadline.

“The department wants to ensure that everyone impacted by those hurricanes has ample opportunity to apply for the CARES Act relief funds,” Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet said in a news release. “This extension will provide those persons more time to devote to repairing and getting services to their homes and taking care of the immediate needs of their family.”

Stay-at-home orders and shutdowns states have 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.

Read the full story at Houma Today

‘I lost everything’: In hurricane-ravaged Louisiana, people struggle to rebuild

November 2, 2020 — Two days after Hurricane Laura barreled through Louisiana in August, Tameka Nelson returned to her beloved daycare facility in Lake Charles to find it in ruins. She fell to her knees and sobbed.

The storm tore part of the roof off. Inside, years worth of toys, crafts and important documents were destroyed. Nothing was salvageable and the building would have to be demolished.

“It was devastating. Everything I’ve worked for is gone,” said Nelson, 40, who’s run Nelson Academy daycare for 15 years. “I lost everything.”

Nelson managed to find a rental building and spent her savings constructing a new daycare space. But with no state funding and a deadline to get approval to open the space by the year’s end, Nelson fears she’ll run out of time and money.

Lifelong Cameron resident Jennifer Picou, 57, and her husband Terry, 60, first lost their home to Rita 15 years ago. When Laura blew through and tore the roof off their home this year, the couple replaced it with a makeshift one. Then Delta arrived, tearing it off and further flooding the house.

They now live in an RV and struggle to manage their local fisheries facility without electricity and proper running water or refrigeration. However, Picou maintained they’re lucky because their house is insured, as many residents’ homes in Cameron are not.

It’s unclear how many Cameron residents will be able to afford to rebuild homes after the hurricanes this year because of inflated construction costs and increasingly strict building codes.

Read the full story at CNBC

Hurricane Zeta crashes onshore in storm-weary Louisiana

October 28, 2020 — Hurricane Zeta slammed into storm-weary Louisiana on Wednesday with New Orleans squarely in its path, threatening to push up to 9 feet of sea water inland and batter homes and businesses with fierce winds in a Gulf Coast region already pounded by multiple storms this year.

Some roads were flooded near the coast, where forecasters said Zeta was making landfall around Terrebone Bay near Cocodrie. Rain pelted the French Quarter in New Orleans, where workers closed one of the last floodgates as residents braced for Zeta, though a few people were still out on Bourbon Street with umbrellas. The iconic streetcars were idled and City Hall closed, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

Zeta had top sustained winds of 110 (177 kph) as a Category 2 hurricane and was the 27th named storm of a historically busy Atlantic hurricane season — with over a month left before it ends.

Tropical storm warnings were issued as far away as the north Georgia mountains, highly unusual for the region. New Orleans has been in the warning areas of seven previous storms that veered east or west this season. Zeta was staying on course.

Read the full story at ABC News

Storms extend Louisiana fisheries COVID-19 aid deadline

October 26, 2020 — Damage from Hurricanes Laura and Delta has prompted Louisiana to extend the deadline for fisheries’ workers and businesses to apply for help under a coronavirus pandemic program.

Instead of ending Monday, the application period will now last through Nov. 23, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said in a news release.

“After a closer look at the damage left by hurricanes Laura and Delta to the fishing community, the department wants to ensure that everyone impacted by those hurricanes has ample opportunity to apply,” Secretary Jack Montoucet said.

He said the extension will give those people more time to repair and get services to their homes and to take care of their families’ immediate needs.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission has $14.6 million in federal coronavirus relief money for Louisiana’s fishing industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBRZ

Seafood companies sue federal government, claim Trump administration plays favorites with tariff relief money

October 26, 2020 — The Trump administration was taken to court on 21 October by three seafood-related companies that claim the federal government’s trade policies has harmed their businesses.

Texas-based Houston Seafood Company, LLC along with Gulf Marine Product Co., Inc. and Ningbo Trading Company, LLC, both based in Louisiana, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Louisiana to help pay for devices that can save sea turtles from shrimp nets

October 21, 2020 — Louisiana is starting a financial assistance program to help shrimpers buy new gear to make their nets less lethal for endangered sea turtles.

The new $250,000 state program will reimburse up to 60% of the cost for special metal grates known as TEDs, or turtle excluder devices, for shrimping nets used in the Gulf of Mexico. TEDs create an opening that allows trapped turtles to escape nets before they drown.

Starting in April, a federal law will expand TED requirements to include skimmer vessels that are 40 feet long and longer. About 1,500 TEDs will need to be purchased for 400 boats in Louisiana, according to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which will oversee the Skimmer Turtle Excluder Device Reimbursement Program.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

Louisiana helps inshore shrimpers buy turtle escape hatches

October 14, 2020 — Louisiana will help inshore shrimpers buy turtle escape hatches that will be required next year for some boats in the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Atlantic, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday.

The $250,000 program will pay up to 60% of the cost for two of the grates called “turtle excluder devices,” or TEDs, a news release said. Some of the money comes from BP payments to restore the Gulf after the oil spill in 2010.

Big offshore shrimp trawlers have had to use such devices since late 1989. Protests against that rule included shrimp-boat blockades of Texas and Louisiana ship channels.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Omega Protein Raises Over $5,000 For Hurricane Laura Assistance

September 24, 2020 — Omega Protein announced last week that they have partnered with the Cameron Parish Lions Club and their charitable organization, the Cameron Educational and Charitable Endeavors, to raise money for Hurricane Laura relief and recovery efforts in Cameron, Louisiana. In the week since launching a GoFundMe, Omega Protein has been able to raise over $5,000.

Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron on August 27, with sustained winds of 150 mph. Omega has deep ties to the area, having previously operated a fishing facility there from the mid-1960s through the end of 2013.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Study: Increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids linked to improved heart health outcomes

September 18, 2020 — A new study presents “compelling evidence” for consuming more of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA – nutrients that seafood possesses rich quantities of – for cardiovascular prevention.

The meta-analysis, considered to be the “most comprehensive analysis of the role of omega-3 dosage on cardiovascular prevention to date,” was published in the most recent issue of in Mayo Clinic Proceedings and involves an in-depth review of 40 clinical trials. It finds that intake of EPA and DHA is correlated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events, which cause 7.4 million deaths globally each year, and reduced risk of myocardial infarction, or heart attacks.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

La. seafood industry struggling during pandemic; business owners hope to see relief soon

September 17, 2020 — Louisiana’s commercial fishermen are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, but they now have the option to apply for assistance from the CARES Act.

WAFB’s Breanne Bizette spoke with seafood businesses about how demand for the product has gone down.

Since the start of the pandemic, fewer people are eating out at local seafood restaurants. Restaurants are restricted on how many people can dine at once, meaning fewer people are eating those delicious seafood platters.

Fishermen who sell their catch to restaurants are feeling the pressure.

“I think the price has to come down because if you don’t have sales you can’t just keep a price at a level that there’s no sale for,” says Al Sunseri who is the co-owner of P&J’s Oyster Company.

Read the full story at WAFB