Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Anchored in advocacy: Blaine Braddock champions menhaden industry while balancing family, career and community

May 5, 2025 — Blaine Braddock fulfills several roles on a daily basis. The Belle Chase resident and professional financial advisor at Nielsen Investments is also a mother to two young girls and the wife of James Braddock, a captain on one of the dozens of menhaden fishing vessels that work in the Gulf for months at a time each year.

After a decade-long career in Nuclear Medicine, Blaine joined her father at Nielsen Investments in 2022. She focuses her business on faith-based investing and has a reputation as a trusted financial advisor in her community.  Community involvement has always been a priority, which is why you will find her serving on many local boards and panels within Plaquemines Parish.

Inspired by the dedication of her own husband as well as other captains, Braddock is also a vocal advocate for the menhaden industry in Louisiana. She has testified before both the House and Senate Natural Resources Committee on behalf of Westbank Fishing. She has firsthand knowledge of what the menhaden industry means to employees, families and the community at large.

“I feel that advocating for this industry is really important to ensure that we have a seat at the table, especially when any legislative action is being discussed,” Braddock said. “It empowers other community members to take pride in our work and preserve this unique heritage for future generations.”

Read the full story at The Advocate

15 years after the BP oil spill disaster, how is the Gulf of Mexico faring?

April 22, 2025 — Down past New Orleans lies Plaquemines parish, a narrow sliver of land at the tip of Louisiana that reaches southward like a finger pointing into the Gulf of Mexico. Past barbecue joints, a naval base, Baptist churches, white egrets, blue herons, and signs advertising items FOR SALE (live shrimp, empty lots and crawfish), Captain Kindra Arnesen lives with her husband and dog in a tidy brick house that smells like eucalyptus potpourri and home cooking.

“There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than be out on the water fishing, especially offshore. I like to get high up on the boat and look out over the water as far as I can see,” Arnesen told Mongabay while stirring a pot of beans. She has worked small commercial fishing boats out in the gulf for decades. “The only thing I love more is my grandbaby.”

“Before the spill, you could ride out there and everywhere you rode there were bait balls of bonita, blue runners, thread herrings, spinners jumping through them. Everywhere you went it was just a sight,” Arnesen recounted, referring to plentiful schools of small fish and spinner dolphins in the open ocean. “After the spill you could ride a hundred miles and not see a bait ball … It slowly died.”

April 20, 2025, marked the 15th anniversary of what is known as the Deepwater Horizon disaster, when an oil rig operated by BP Exploration & Production exploded and sank in the Macondo prospect, 66 kilometers (41 miles) off the Louisiana coast.

Read the full story at Mongabay

 

Louisiana’s Menhaden Industry Celebrates the Beginning of the 2025 Fishing Season with Blessing of the Fleet

April 21, 2025 — As Louisiana’s menhaden fishing industry prepares for the 2025 season, beginning Monday, April 21, fishermen, their families, and local communities are gathering for the annual Blessing of the Fleet. This year’s event, being held on Easter Sunday, blends faith, family, and a deep connection to the sea as generations of fishing families come together to honor their way of life and seek protection for the season ahead.

For decades, the Blessing of the Fleet has been a solemn moment of unity, with industry workers and their families, local leaders and clergy coming together to pray for a safe and successful fishing season. From Plaquemines to Vermilion, menhaden steamers will be adorned with flags and fresh paint, as captains and crews bow their heads in prayer – continuing a tradition that has safeguarded fishermen for over a century.

This gathering is also a time to recognize the dedication and resilience of the industry’s workers. Former Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Madison Sheahan visited Westbank Fishing last year and described menhaden fishing as “one of our state’s toughest jobs.” The start of the season serves as a reminder of the sacrifices these crews and their families make, as well as the challenges they face working on the open water.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

LOUISIANA: The Louisiana Menhaden Industry: An Economic Engine for Coastal Communities

April 7, 2025 — For more than a century, Louisiana’s commercial menhaden fishery has been a pillar of the state’s coastal economy, providing stable jobs, sustaining businesses, and fueling essential industries worldwide. From the Gulf waters to global markets, menhaden fishing supports communities and industries that rely on its valuable marine ingredients – fish meal and fish oil – for aquaculture, pet food, and human nutrition.

Leading the industry, Omega Protein and its fishing partner Ocean Harvesters, along with Daybrook Fisheries and its fishing partner Westbank Fishing, operate one of the largest and most productive fisheries in America. Their work transforms Gulf menhaden into high-value products that drive innovation and sustainability across multiple industries.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

LOUISIANA: Seafood testers find Shreveport restaurants deceiving customers with foreign shrimp

March 27, 2025 — Undercover seafood testers sampled a selection of restaurants in the Shreveport area this month and detected what they say is the highest shrimp fraud rate they have recorded to date in Louisiana.

SeaD Consulting, a food testing company that has been making headlines for uncovering seafood fraud at restaurants and festivals across the Gulf Coast, announced in a news release Wednesday that a “troubling” 58% of the restaurants sampled were deceptively serving foreign shrimp falsely presented as if it were domestic in violation of state law.

The company’s use of genetic testing found a total of 17 out of 24 restaurants sampled, or 71%, served foreign farm-raised shrimp. Fourteen of those, or 58%, did so deceptively by mislabeling the country of origin or refusing to indicate it on their menus or restaurant signage.

The sampling, taken March 8-10, is so far the highest inauthenticity rate that SeaD has recorded in Louisiana since it first launched its testing efforts last year at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City.

The company does not identify the restaurants that aren’t following the state’s labeling law, opting instead to raise awareness of its existence.

SeaD executive Erin Williams said six of the restaurants were “blatantly being deceptive” by explicitly mislabeling their dishes as “Gulf shrimp” rather than just falsely suggesting it.

It is illegal under federal and state law to mislabel imported seafood as local and can result in fines or other penalties. In some instances, seafood fraud offenses at the federal level can yield criminal charges or even prison time, such as in the 2024 convictions of two Mississippi restaurant owners, one of whom was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Local seafood was once easy to find in Louisiana, but an influx of cheap foreign catch, particularly shrimp and crawfish, has flooded the market over the past two decades.

Williams said she believes there is less public awareness in the Shreveport area of the foreign seafood problem and the plight of the coastal communities that depend on commercial fishermen.

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator

LOUISIANA: How Louisiana’s Menhaden Industry is Leading in Sustainability

March 24, 2025 — Louisiana’s menhaden industry plays a critical role in the state’s coastal economy, providing jobs and generating millions in economic impact. Together, the industry supports over 2,000 direct and indirect workers, providing good wage jobs in rural coastal communities and contributing $25 million to state and local economies. In a state where commercial fishing is a backbone of our culture, these jobs help keep coastal communities alive.

At the same time, we recognize our responsibility as stewards of the Gulf menhaden resource and have taken proactive steps to ensure the sustainability of our fishery.

While net tears and fish spills are extremely rare, we acknowledge such incidents are unacceptable. That’s why we’ve invested in cutting-edge technology to further reduce occurrences. Over the past four years, the industry has made 65,000 fishing sets, of which only 44 experienced net tears—a minuscule 0.067% incident rate.

Net tears are largely caused by sharks which strike the nets attempting to access the captured fish inside them. The significant increase in the shark population along the Louisiana coast has resulted in an increased incidence of net tears in recent years.

Read the full article at The Advocate

LOUISIANA: Sustainable Fishing: How Louisiana’s Menhaden Industry Protects the Gulf

March 12, 2025 — For generations, Louisiana’s menhaden fishing industry has supported small coastal communities and harvested a sustainable resource while employing responsible fishing practices that protect the Gulf’s ecosystem. Through science-based management, innovative technology, and strict regulations, we ensure that menhaden remains abundant for future generations.

The commercial menhaden fishery uses the purse seine method, a specially designed technique that minimizes environmental impact. Here’s how the process works:

  • Spotting the School: Fishing vessels use spotter airplanes to locate large schools of menhaden.
  • Setting the Net: The vessel encircles the school with a purse seine net, which closes at the bottom to form a contained “purse.”
  • Hauling in the Catch: A winch system pulls in the net, and a vacuum pump transfers the fish onto the boat while safely returning any larger marine species, like turtles, sharks, or dolphins, back to the water.
  • Sorting and Processing: Fish are sorted using bycatch reduction devices, which separate non-target species before the catch is transported for processing onshore.

Read the full article at NOLA.com

The unsung backbone of Louisiana’s coastal economy

March 8, 2025 – When it comes to Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry, shrimp, oysters, and crabs often steal the spotlight. However, a small yet vital fish, menhaden, sometimes referred to as pogies plays an outsized role.

Known for their high omega-3 content, menhaden are a critical link in the Gulf’s food chain and support coastal jobs and industries. According to The Advocate, menhaden are primarily found along the nutrient-rich estuaries of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. These waters provide an optimal habitat for the fish, which are harvested for use in livestock feed, aquaculture, and pet food. Despite misconceptions, menhaden harvesting is one of the most tightly regulated fisheries in the region, overseen by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, and state legislators. The industry relies on satellite tracking and genetic studies to assess stock health, ensuring sustainable harvest levels.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Investigation finds evidence of shrimp fraud in Lafayette, Louisiana

March 3, 2025 — A recent genetic investigation conducted by SeaD (Seafood Development) Consulting into shrimp served at restaurants in Lafayette, Louisiana, revealed that 33 percent of shrimp served in local restaurants is not locally-sourced.

Though the sample was small (24 restaurants), the findings are in keeping with the results of genetic testing of shrimp served in other Gulf states.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: The History of the Louisiana Menhaden Industry

February 24, 2025 — Few people realize that one of Louisiana’s most valuable fisheries isn’t for shrimp, oysters, or crab—but for a small, unassuming fish that has fueled our state and local economies: the menhaden.

The first large-scale menhaden fishery in the U.S. began on the East Coast in the early 1800s, where the fish were processed for oil and fertilizer. By the late 19th century, the industry expanded into the Gulf, where Louisiana’s nutrient-rich estuaries provided an ideal habitat for vast menhaden populations. Processing plants soon emerged along the coast, and by the early 20th century, the Gulf menhaden fishery was a booming industry, supplying fish oil for industrial uses and fish meal for livestock feed.

Read the full article at NOLA.com