August 26, 205 — A Mississippi judge has blocked a recently passed state law that would allow the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) to lease out oyster reefs to private companies, preserving public access to those reefs for the time being.
Local oystermen hailed the injunction, arguing that the state law would deprive them of access to reefs they have been able to harvest oysters from for generations.
August 19, 2025 — A study by Mississippi-based researchers found that menhaden are not a primary food source for Gulf of Mexico predator species like red drum, summer flounder, and spotted sea trout.
“The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the Gulf food web and charts the trophic interactions that structure it,” according to a summary from the University of Southern Mississippi. “The findings have fishery management implications for several of the species evaluated in the study. Most notably, Gulf menhaden was not found to be a primary food source for any of the predator species studied.”
The question of menhaden’s role in the Gulf ecosystem is a perennial, hot-button issue in fisheries management. The impact of the region’s commercial menhaden fleet is routinely challenged by recreational and other user groups.
The project, funded by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) combined the latest in stable isotope analysis “and an extensive meta-analysis of hundreds of published stomach content studies dating back to the 1950s” from Gulf fisheries research.
August 11, 2025 — One of the most important questions in the Gulf is also, surprisingly, one that hasn’t had a detailed answer: what exactly do predator fish eat? Species like red drum, southern flounder, and spotted seatrout are important to both the Gulf ecosystem and the recreational fishing economy, and knowing what they eat is key to managing them successfully.
A new study from the University of Southern Mississippi is helping answer that question with one of the most comprehensive investigations of predator diets to date.
Rethinking the Role of Gulf Menhaden
One of the headline findings concerns another important species: Gulf menhaden. Often viewed as the key food source for many of these predators, the study finds they may not be as central to these predator diets as previously thought.
While menhaden are part of the mix, the study found no predator species examined relied on them as a primary food source. Instead, predator diets were found to be incredibly varied and opportunistic, depending on what prey is available at different times and in different places.
June 25, 2025 — Louisiana’s coastline is a river delta, formed by the Mississippi over millennia as its current slowed and relinquished its mud into a calm and sheltered gulf. In the back-and-forth contest between the river’s flow and the incoming waves, then, the power of the Mississippi River won out. There’s nowhere else quite like Louisiana, with its intricate landscape of bays, bayous and inlets that wind, maze-like, through a seemingly endless expanse of marsh.
Sitting on a boat, the results can seem empty and monotonous—nothing but cordgrass as far as the horizon. That’s because the real action lies beneath the surface. Nutrients carried by the river and the ocean meet here, in this estuary, feeding plant life, which in turn feeds an abundant food chain of fish. This abundance has long shaped local culture. Fifteen hundred years ago, when Indigenous corn farmers began to clear and plant the Mississippi’s banks upstream, Louisiana was marked as a place apart: Agriculture did not really take hold here, not when there were so many fish to catch. The first European colonists, too, marveled at the bounty. “The rivers are full of monstrous fish,” a nun stationed in New Orleans in 1727 wrote to her French father. She noted an “infinity” of species not then known in Europe.
Archaeological records from the era show that drum species were among the most popular, and today one drum species—red drum, better known as redfish—has become a symbol of the region. Delta fishermen eventually learned to smell redfish from a hundred yards off, and to distinguish the clouds of mud kicked up by their tails from those made by mullet or sheepshead. By the 19th century, anglers were chasing redfish for more than just sustenance. One of the first guidebooks for American anglers, published in 1865, declared that redfish in the Gulf of Mexico (now Gulf of America) “afford fine sport”: They hit bait hard and could run off 40 feet of line in a quick and angry dash. When a New York aristocrat launched Forest and Stream a few years later, the magazine described the Gulf as a “sportsman’s paradise,” a phrase that became a Louisiana motto, now appearing on the state’s license plates. By the late 1980s, amid concerns that the species was being overfished, it was declared a game fish. That meant it was set aside for anglers alone—no commercial harvest allowed.
Even a fairly young redfish is a taut torpedo of muscle—a beast of an animal, which after a few years can reach as much as nine pounds, almost too big for the shallow waters that have been its nursery. That size is key to their appeal: A charging redfish will send a wave rolling atop the surface. While wade-fishing off a barrier island, you can feel the water beating from their presence. Some fishermen have compared the sound of a school to a passing freight train. Although redfish range as far north as Massachusetts, they love marshlands—which makes the great labyrinth of Louisiana’s delta a particular redfish hot spot. Today, the fish is among the foremost targets of the state’s billion-dollar sport-fishing industry.
June 12, 2025 — The U.S. state of Mississippi is set to begin enforcing a newly passed seafood labeling law which will require grocery stores, markets, restaurants, and other vendors to clearly note whether the seafood and crawfish they sell are imported or domestic.
“Mississippi’s new seafood labeling law is a pivotal step toward restoring consumer trust and safeguarding the integrity of our Gulf Coast heritage,” Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) Executive Director Joe Spraggins said in a statement. “By mandating clear domestic or imported labeling for all seafood products, the law empowers consumers to make informed choices, ensuring they receive the quality they expect and deserve. This transparency not only supports local fishermen and businesses but also holds establishments accountable. As we embrace this change, we reaffirm our commitment to honesty, quality, and the rich culinary traditions that define Mississippi.”
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.