Saving Seafood

Coastal fish populations didn’t crash after the Deepwater Horizon spill – why not?

April 16, 2020 — When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released 4 to 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, some early projections estimated that the toll on fisheries could reach US$5-10 billion by 2020. Chemicals in crude oil may affect fish and other marine creatures directly, through their toxicity, or indirectly by harming their food or habitat, and the effects can be immediate or long-term.

I began conducting marine science research in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2006, and was immediately taken by the diversity of fishes, water bodies, habitats and economic sectors along the coast. This region is still home to my favorite saltwater environments – places like the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana, and Florida’s St. Joseph Bay.

From 2006-2009, I worked with teams studying the ecology of fishes that inhabit the tidal salt marshes and underwater seagrass meadows of the northern Gulf. As the Deepwater Horizon spill unfolded, I shared many other people’s deep concerns about the terrible human toll, and the ecological and economic damage to places like the sensitive shores where I had worked.

Ten years later, though, there’s some welcome good news. In our research, my colleagues and I have found that the Deepwater Horizon spill did not appear to cause significant oiling injury to coastal fish populations.

Read the full story at The Conversation

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 fishers could find relief in coronavirus stimulus package

April 10, 2020 — With restaurants closed, commercial fishers like Sean Heverin, from Leesville, are struggling to sell their catch. Heverin targets red snapper, among other species, which he then sells in bulk to companies that resell the fish to restaurants.

But that supply chain is gone, and retail markets cannot buy in the quantity that Heverin is used to selling.

“It’s been really tough lately with the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “Lately, we’ve had to try pre-selling the fish before leaving the dock, and most places say no, or that the price is too high.”

Heverin and other Louisiana fishers could find some relief in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump last month. The bill includes $300 million for those in the fishing industry whose businesses have seen losses greater than 35 percent as compared to the prior 5-year average revenue.

But the bill did not outline a process for distributing the funds, said Ashford Rosenberg, a policy analyst for the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

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

LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Sea Grant aim to help struggling seafood industry

April 6, 2020 — The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant are working to help the seafood industry, which is struggling with a massive financial challenge created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Restaurants that use large amounts of seafood are only offering carryout service, and they have drastically scaled back their seafood purchases.

“I’m sure it’s less than 10% of its previous quantity,” said Rusty Gaude, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent in the New Orleans area.

A seafood marketing program, Louisiana Direct Seafood, is one way of helping fishermen and dealers by connecting them directly with consumers.

The Louisiana Direct Seafood program helps consumers buy seafood from fishermen and vendors.

Fishermen in Cameron, Delcambre, Lafourche-Terrebonne and Southshore New Orleans areas post their fresh catch messages on a website. Customers are able to visit the site and see in real time who has fresh product ready for sale, where they are located and their contact information. Consumers can then contact the sellers directly to establish a price, place orders and arrange pickup at the docks or other locations.

Read the full story at The Houma Times

Coronavirus: Struggling Louisiana fishermen, shrimpers look for new ways to sell catch

April 3, 2020 — Louisiana’s fishermen and shrimpers are struggling to sell their catches as the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has severely depressed demand from buyers.

The drop in demand largely comes from the state’s shutdown of restaurants, aside from carryout and delivery options, to prevent further spread of the virus. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an order closing dine-in operations March 16.

With low demand, processing plants’ freezers and inventories are full, leaving most fishermen with nowhere to sell their catches, said Thomas Hymel, a marine extension agent with the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Sea Grant.

Read the full story at the Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Louisiana’s Seafood Industry Need Us Now More Than Ever

April 1, 2020 — What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Louisiana? Well, if you’re well adjusted then you either answered food or music. Both answers would be acceptable to me because quite frankly in Louisiana one without the other just doesn’t feel right.

While the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been illustrated across social media platforms by our state’s musical performers, the effect the virus has had on Louisiana’s seafood industry may not have been as widely publicized.

Think about this fact. About 80% of shrimp caught in Louisiana is sold to restaurants. We already know how the virus has scaled back dining out so if you peel the layers back even further you don’t have to look too hard to see Louisiana’s seafood producing families are truly feeling the pinch.

Read the full story at KPEL

COVID-19 hits Louisiana’s $2 billion seafood industry hard, leaders urge public to buy local

March 31, 2020 — A whopping 80% of shrimp caught in Louisiana is sold to restaurants, but restaurants across the country are shutting their doors due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Now Louisiana’s $2 billion seafood industry is struggling.

“These are all very small family-owned businesses, and they are very dependent on local sales,” Twin Parish Port Commissioner Wendell Verret said.

Larger seafood businesses will also be hurt.

As demand for seafood goes down, they’ll be stuck with too much inventory. When businesses stop buying seafood from fishermen, the effects could be disastrous.

“Once the fishermen are impacted and they cannot continue to fish, they lose their boats. They lose their equipment. They lose their shop, and it’s very hard to get back into that business,” Verret added.

Read the full story at KLFY

LOUISIANA: Virus outbreak hits local shrimp industry hard

March 27, 2020 — Regulations and foreign trade have battered local shrimpers for years, and the economic quagmire caused by Covid-19 is only adding to the problems.

During Lent, sales of shrimp can double or even triple, but the closure of restaurants has frozen sales – literally. Because sales have plummeted, many shrimp processors are keeping their product on ice to wait out the crisis. This leaves a grim outlook for the future of the shrimping industry.

“Sales have plummeted,” said Kimberly Chauvin, of David Chauvin Seafood Company in Dulac. “I think we are down about 90-something percent.”

In 2018, Gulf of Mexico commercial fishermen caught 374 million pounds of seafood worth $780 million, according to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.

Chauvin said processors are keeping their product frozen, and this has meant that many shrimpers are staying on shore to avoid unstable prices. The larger shrimp are frozen with their heads still intact, preserving product to be sold at a later date but, Chauvin said, the overhead cost remains the same. Costs like utilities, payroll, insurance and licenses must still be met, and while she has heard talk of financial assistance to small businesses, she said she hasn’t seen action.

Read the full story at Houma Today