April 8, 2025 — The state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi has passed a bill expanding the state’s seafood-labeling law, sending the legislation to the state’s governor to be signed into law.
“We are trying to do everything that we can to help promote seafood [and] to help promote the brand of Gulf fresh seafood, not just for shrimp, not just for oysters, but for all seafood,” Mississippi Senator Scott DeLano (R-Biloxi) told WLOX.
December 2, 2024 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves intends to sprint toward the finish line for the 118th Congress, which convenes Monday and disbands in a month, by pushing an issue he has been working since he was a Capitol Hill staffer 20 years ago.
“This has been an ongoing effort for me, for many years, to give Louisiana parity,” Graves said.
Graves, a Baton Rouge Republican who steps down when the 119th Congress assumes office on Jan. 3, teamed with Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, on a bill that would give Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama the same offshore sovereignty as Texas and Florida — moving the boundary line from three nautical miles to nine — thereby allowing Louisiana control of more energy exploration and fishing rights.
Graves said last week in announcing the Offshore Parity Act of 2024, “I’m not sure who was negotiating for us generations ago, but that is just ridiculous.”
History, rather than bonehead negotiators, played a greater role in setting state sovereignty over offshore waters.
August 28, 2024 — A Mississippi seafood distributor and two managers pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to mislabel seafood and commit wire fraud by marketing frozen imported fish as more expensive local species, federal authorities said.
Quality Poultry and Seafood Inc., the largest seafood wholesaler on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, agreed to forfeit $1 million and pay a $150,000 fine, the Justice Department said. The company’s sales manager Todd A. Rosetti and business manager James W. Gunkel, both of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, also pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood.
The developments Tuesday are the latest in a case tied to a well known Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House in Biloxi.
In May, the restaurant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud. A co-owner/manager of Mary Mahoney’s, Anthony Charles Cvitanovich, also pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood.
March 7, 2024 — Crawfish prices are starting to drop after last summer’s drought led to near-record high costs.
The Crawfish App, which averages the prices from more than 800 crawfish vendors, estimates the price per pound of boiled crawfish is $7.49 or $8.99 for live crawfish. That’s compared to more than $13.00 per pound back in January.
Elvin LeFebvre, the owner of Triangle Seafood and Po-boys in Hattiesburg, said they’ve seen a steady drop in prices over the last month, but they’re not receiving as many crawfish as usual.
January 18, 2024 — America’s seafood industry has long been a vital contributor to our economy, with the seafood supply chain supporting more than 1.8 million jobs nationwide, but you may be surprised to learn that the U.S. currently imports far more seafood than it produces. This Congress, our colleagues have the power to change that by joining with us to support the expansion of offshore aquaculture.
Here in the U.S., the farming of fish and other aquatic species, also known as aquaculture, is a thriving industry in many states — including our home states of Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, and Mississippi and is being done in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner. Offshore aquaculture has an important role to play in the open ocean for producing sustainable protein that supplements our wild-capture fisheries and strengthens our working waterfronts and coastal economies.
With nearly half of all seafood consumed globally coming from fish farms, marine aquaculture produces many of the seafood that we eat and enjoy, including shellfish like oysters, clams, and mussels, as well as fish such as salmon, black sea bass and yellowtail, as well as seaweeds. But the lack of a clear and efficient permitting process for offshore aquaculture here in the U.S. has hindered the full potential of an American industry because it deters investment in offshore waters. Many investors simply take their capital overseas — bringing the jobs and revenue it produces with them, which is why we have joined together to propose a legislative solution to correct his problem and position the U.S. as a leader in sustainable seafood production.
November 3, 2023 — The U.S. state of Mississippi is set to dole out USD 6.6 million (EUR 6.2 million) in financial relief to commercial fishermen, seafood dealers, aquaculture harvesters, and live-bait fisheries impacted by the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster.
The spillway diverts floodwater away from populated areas and into the Mississippi sound, but the surge of freshwater can be damaging to ocean life. Officials believe the fresh-water release severely damaged commercial fisheries when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice in 2019, leading to millions of dollars in lost revenue from lower oyster, shrimp, crab, and finfish landings.
August 15, 2023 — Mississippi is accepting applications for financial relief from commercial fishermen hurt by the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster.
The spillway is designed to divert floodwater away from the city of New Orleans and into the Mississippi Sound, but the surge of freshwater spillover into the ocean can shock oysters, crabs, and other aquatic life. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carré Spillway twice in 2019 – the first time it was ever opened twice in one year – it severely damaged area fisheries.
In 2020, the Department of Commerce declared the 2019 spillway releases a fishery disaster, allocating $88 million to Gulf of Mexico fisheries in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to compensate for lost revenue from lower oyster, shrimp, crab, and finfish landings. Of that $88 million, Mississippi received $21 million.
The total was significantly less than the $500 million in financial relief the three states asked for. Louisiana alone estimated it suffered $258 million from the flooding.
Now, four years after the spillway disaster and three years after the federal government announced the relief, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has launched for the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Spillway Fisheries Disaster Recovery Program to distribute the received USD 21 million in funding. Financial assistance applications for commercial fishermen, charter boat companies, and related businesses opened 9 August and will close on 7 September.
August 14, 2023 — The U.S. state of Mississippi is accepting applications for financial relief from commercial fishermen hurt by the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carre Spillway disaster.
The spillway is designed to divert floodwater away from the city of New Orleans and into the Mississippi Sound, but the surge of freshwater spillover into the ocean can shock oysters, crabs, and other aquatic life. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice in 2019 – the first time it was ever opened twice in one year – it severely damaged area fisheries.
June 27, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Commerce has determined multiple fisheries in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi suffered from disasters in 2020, clearing the way for those state to receive financial assistance from the federal government.
“Sustainable fisheries are vital to our nation’s ocean economy and fishery disasters directly harm our local communities when they occur,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. “These disaster determinations allow us to get fishing communities in the Gulf of Mexico the financial assistance they need to mitigate impacts of disasters, restore fisheries, and help prevent future disasters.”
January 26, 2023 — New federal regulations from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration will slash the amount of red snapper that recreation anglers in Mississippi can reel in unless changes are made, according to state leaders.
While the quota cuts won’t impact the commercial side, the changes on the recreational side are still a concern for the many fishermen who travel to the gulf each year and anglers who live there.
“We have a group of family and friends that fish regularly together,” said Michael Pierce.
Pierce lives and plays around Bay St Louis.
The coastal city, like so many others along the Mississippi sound, is a haven for anglers across the state.
“It’s great for like the kids. Something they can enjoy, because it is so easy to go out, catch your snapper,” said Pierce.
Red snapper is one of the most sought-after fish in the south.
NOAA regulates fishing in federal waters. Five gulf states, including Mississippi, receive a federal allocation.