Saving Seafood

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

LOUISIANA: Seafood Restaurant Shrimp Testing Exposes Mislabeling: Shrimpers and Diners Both Cheated

September 23, 2025 — The following was released by SeaD Consulting:

In Northeast Louisiana, where shrimp is a staple on local menus, diners are being misled about what’s on their plates.Genetic testing of shrimp dishes from 24 Monroe and Ruston area restaurants found that 0% complied with Louisiana’s seafood labeling laws to identify imported shrimp, despite menus and staff frequently claiming “Gulf” or domestic wild-caught origins.

SEAD Consulting, using its field-based RIGHTTest™ genetic technology, conducted testing from September 11–14, 2025.

Key Findings

  • 11 of 24 dishes (46%) contained authentic domestic wild-caught shrimp

  • 13 of 24 dishes (54%) contained imported, farm-raised shrimp

    • 7 of 13 menus explicitly said “Gulf” or domestic shrimp were being served

    • 5 of 13 had staff explicitly assure customers the dish used Gulf or domestic shrimp

    • 1 of 13 admitted to serving imported shrimp—but had no signage complying with Louisiana’s labeling laws

    • 0 of 13 had required signage indicating imported product

That equates to a 0% compliance rate with Louisiana’s imported seafood labeling laws.

“This isn’t about forcing restaurants to change their menus—it’s about them standing by their word,” said Lance Nacio, Louisiana shrimper and Louisiana Shrimp Task Force board member. “Diners deserve to get what they pay for, and shrimpers deserve their fair market share. Right now, both are being cheated.”

Restaurants Where Authentic Domestic Wild-Caught Shrimp Was Found

  1. Belle’s Ole South Diner — 4624 Cypress St, West Monroe, LA 71291

  2. Captain Avery Seafood & Specialty Meats — 2607 Ferrand St, Monroe, LA 71201

  3. Catfish Charlies — 2329 Louisville Ave, Monroe, LA 71201

  4. Fontenot’s Cajun Way — 436 Desiard St, Monroe, LA 71201

  5. Golden Pier Seafood — 1114 N 7th St, West Monroe, LA 71291

  6. Kravin’s — 705 Winnsboro Rd, Monroe, LA 71202

  7. Mohawk Tavern — 704 Louisville Ave, Monroe, LA 71201

  8. Ponchatoulas — 109 E Park Ave, Ruston, LA 71270

  9. Scott’s Catfish and Seafood — 2812 Cypress St, West Monroe, LA 71291

  10. Trio’s Ruston — 101 Pelican Blvd, Ruston, LA 71270

  11. Warehouse No. 1 — 1 Olive St, Monroe, LA 71201

“We work hard to serve the finest, all-natural ingredients to our customers,” said Trio’s Ruston Restaurant Owner Alex Van Benthuysen. “That includes locally harvested, wild-caught Gulf shrimp. You can definitively taste the difference between wild-caught and imported shrimp. We also want to support our community, just as they support us. That said, we’re only as good as our suppliers are, so there is a lot of trust in the equation.”

While misrepresentation can happen anywhere along the supply chain, genetic testing of what ends up in the dish is essential to enforcing Louisiana’s labeling laws and restoring trust.

What Locals Can Do

  • Ask your server directly where the shrimp comes from at restaurants

  • Ask to see the box or packaging the shrimp came in if in doubt

  • Look for “wild-caught Gulf shrimp” on menus

  • Report suspected seafood fraud to local health authorities

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.

About SEAD Consulting

SEAD (Seafood Development) Consulting blends science and policy to defend seafood authenticity. Its RIGHTTest™ program is revolutionizing how consumers, restaurants, and regulators verify species in real time to combat fraud and protect coastal livelihoods.

Visit www.seadconsulting.com to learn more or report suspected mislabeling.

Disclaimer: SEAD’s testing and reporting is intended to be used as an investigatory tool to assist the restaurant industry’s fight against seafood mislabeling. It is not intended for use in any legal proceedings, nor may SEAD’s data, testing, or reporting be used in any legal proceeding without the express written authorization of SEAD.

LOUISIANA: Menhaden Industry Steps Up for Local Communities in Wake of Hurricanes

September 22, 2025 — With the 20th anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita upon us, Louisianians are thinking back to that devastation and remembering all those who helped us get through those difficult times. When hurricanes batter the Gulf Coast, the menhaden industry—often seen only for its fishing fleet and processing plants—has taken on a different role: a committed neighbor ready to step up in times of crisis.

In September 2021, after Hurricane Ida tore through southeastern Louisiana, Omega Protein quickly mobilized relief for hard-hit Terrebonne Parish. The company delivered 550 gallons of gasoline, 3 pallets of water (252 cases), and a pallet of hand sanitizer from its plant in Abbeville to St. Joseph Church in Chauvin. Through social media, the company directed its followers to local charities to help get the community back on its feet. Company employees also partnered with relief organization Bayou Boys Community Helpers to distribute over 1,000 meals to residents who had been impacted by the hurricane in neighboring Lafourche Parish.

A year earlier, when Hurricane Laura devastated Cameron Parish with 150-mph winds, the destruction was staggering. In the days immediately after the storm, Omega Protein stepped in, despite having closed its Cameron facility in 2013.

Read the full article at NOLA.COM

LOUISIANA: 20 Years After Rita, Southwest Louisiana’s Fishing Industry Fights to Survive—Can Aquaculture Bring It Back?

September 18, 2025 — It’s been a decade since Hurricane Rita ripped through southwest Louisiana, and recovery has been a long, difficult process for many who have lived in the coastal area.

Farmland and pastures were inundated with saltwater from the storm surge. Numerous homes were flooded or washed away, bringing a drastic change for thousands of people who had lived along the coast for decades.

The town of Cameron was hardest hit. Its seafood industry was decimated. Docks were destroyed, and the only ice house was knocked out of commission.

Kevin Savoie, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant agent in Cameron Parish, said a new facility for commercial fishing being built along the waterfront includes an ice house, processing facility, and public dock. The $4 million project is being funded with a Community Development Block Grant, and the Cameron Parish Police Jury has partnered with a private firm to run the facility, he said.

The ice house is a significant step toward revitalizing the local seafood industry, Savoie said. “That, along with the need for some public docking facility, has really held things back.”

Cameron previously drew larger offshore shrimp and fin-fishing boats. “We do not see them in port at Cameron anymore,” he said.

Cameron has shrunk in other ways. “We lost about 80 percent of our population,” Savoie said. A town that counted 2,200 people in the 2000 census is down to about 400.

Residents moved north in the parish to Grand Lake, with others moving to nearby parishes. “Our population in the parish went from below 10,000 to 6,400 or 6,300, with most of them north of the Intracoastal Waterway,” he said.

Some residents who relocated still maintain cattle herds along the coast, but cattle prices are too high for most to be able to afford restocking, Savoie said.

Read the full article at RFD-TV

Menhaden Fisheries: Federal Policy, Sustainability, and Coastal Economies

September 15, 2025 — America’s menhaden fishery is one of the great success stories of U.S. seafood production – a renewable, sustainably managed resource that supports thousands of jobs, fuels rural economies, and delivers essential products to global markets.

This longstanding industry, rooted for generations along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, often finds itself at the center of debate – praised as a model of science-based management by some, while questioned by others concerned about its ecological footprint and role in coastal economies.

What happens in these policy debates carries real weight for the communities, small businesses, and working families whose livelihoods are tied directly to menhaden.

From Reedville, Virginia, to Moss Point, Mississippi, and from Cape May, New Jersey, to Empire and Abbeville, Louisiana, the fishery forms the backbone of local economies. The industry supports not only fishing crews but also dock workers, plant employees, welders, mechanics, truck drivers, shipbuilders, and countless vendors.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

LOUISIANA: Fishermen in Southwest Louisiana Say LNG Terminals Are to Blame for Shrimp Harvest Decline

September 8, 2025 — Ray Mallett started fishing near the mouth of the Calcasieu River more than half a century ago as part of the “mosquito fleet,” a ragtag group of kids that plied the surrounding rivers and bayous in small motorboats in search of crabs.

A Gulf Coast fisherman like his father before him, Mallett harvested shrimp for decades from an estuary in Southwest Louisiana that was once the seafood capital of America.

Now, he can hardly catch enough shrimp to pay for fuel.

“Each year we’re getting less and less,” Mallett said, standing at the helm of his boat, Cajun Memories. The name is a nod to his roots, and as one of the last remaining shrimp boats in Cameron’s port, a once-thriving fishery.

Read the full article at Inside Climate News

LOUISIANA: Vibrio cases rise in Louisiana

September 2, 2025 — There have been more illnesses and deaths from Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, this year than in previous years in the Southern U.S. state of Louisiana.

The Louisiana Department of Health is urging residents to take precautions to prevent infection from the bacteria, which can cause illness when an open wound is exposed to coastal waters or when a person eats raw or undercooked seafood, particularly oysters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Louisiana official renews call for seafood inspection fees following shrimp recalls

August 26, 2025 — An official in the U.S. state of Louisiana has renewed his calls for there to be a national inspection fee on imported seafood in the wake of recalls of frozen shrimp contaminated by radiation.

On 14 August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had detected a radioactive isotope called Caesium-137 (Cs-137) in shipping containers at the ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANNA: Louisiana makes commercial fishing licenses available via mobile app

August 25, 2025 — Fishers and seafood providers in Louisiana can now access several commercial licenses through the LA Wallet app, making it easier for them to ensure they have the proper documentation while operating along the state’s coast.

“The advantage of adding a license to LA Wallet is really ease for the user,” LDFW Biologisy Program Manager Nicole Smith told local news outlet KTBS. “They don’t have to worry about having a card or a paper copy in their possession. If they have their phone with them, it’s easily accessible.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Conservation group calls for state, federal response after dredging incident disrupts Louisiana shellfish

August 18, 2025 — A surge of sediment has flooded into No Name Bayou due to an ongoing dredging project in the area, disrupting multiple shellfish fisheries and threatening the success of the state’s shrimping season, which started this month.

Natural gas provider Venture Global had been conducting dredging in the area as it builds out a new a liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, U.S.A. However, on 4 August, the sediment escaped from its designated area, flooding into the waterway and burying crab traps and oyster beds.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource