The House Health and Welfare Committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require seafood sellers to clearly market whether the seafood is local or imported from other countries such as China.
Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, showed an image of a package of frozen crawfish sold at a local supermarket. Connick explained that the item named “Boudreaux’s Crawfish” was not from Louisiana but instead a product of China.
Read MoreA TikTok video from Dust Kitchenware, known by their handle @dust6923, has quickly gained notoriety not for its innovation but for the backlash it has stirred among crawfish lovers in Louisiana.
The video demonstrates a tool designed to simplify the process of shucking crawfish tails. By inserting a tail into the device and pulling, the shell is supposed to strip right away, leaving the meat ready for consumption. However, the response from the Louisiana community, where crawfish is less a food item and more a cultural emblem, is probably not what the company hoped for.
Read MoreThe Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has received $65.2 million to aid the fishing industry damaged by storms and flooding.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has given the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries two pots of money to distribute to the fishing community. It includes $38.2 million to aid the fishing industry affected by the 2019 opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway. A separate $27 million has been given to the department to aid the fishing industry impacted by hurricanes that struck Louisiana between 2021 and 2022.
Read MoreCongressman Higgins introduces legislation in an effort to aid Louisiana shrimpers.
Congressmen Clay Higgins and Troy Nehls (R-TX) introduced the Save Our Shrimpers Act of 2024, which would prohibit federal funds from being made available to International Financial Institutions (IFIs) that subsidize foreign activity relating to shrimp farming, shrimp processing, or the export of shrimp to the United States.
Read MoreStudents could be guaranteed domestic catch when seafood is on the school menu if a proposal before the Louisiana Legislature becomes law. The state House approved a bill Tuesday that would prohibit any public or private schools that receive state money from serving foreign seafood to students.
Read MoreLouisiana lawmakers are considering a batch of bills to safeguard the state's seafood industry from an influx of foreign shrimp and crawfish and to strengthen safety measures for imported products.
Some bills would increase fees and licensing requirements on dealers bringing in foreign seafood and expand safety testing. Others would require more accurate labeling about where any type of seafood originates and ban the use of foreign seafood in school lunch programs.
Read MoreTwo British YouTubers, Josh and Ollie of the popular JOLLY channel, embarked on a quintessential Louisiana experience - indulging in a traditional crawfish boil. Their destination? Salvo’s Seafood, a local spot in Belle Chasse not far from New Orleans known for its authentic Cajun cuisine.
Upon arrival, the duo couldn't help but notice the abundance of pickup trucks, a stark contrast to the vehicle landscape back in the UK. "Seems like there are more trucks here than in the entire United Kingdom," Josh joked, setting the tone for the light-hearted culinary experience ahead.
Read MoreThe new Shellfish Pilot Crop Insurance Program, offered through the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), offers you, as an oyster producer, needed protection from environmental challenges and it also allows you to insure for a higher price based on your personal sales records. You are now eligible for protection against losses due to named storms, excessive heat during a low tide event, freeze during a low tide event, or low salinity due to excessive rainfall.
Read MoreThey’re nicknamed “mudbugs” for a reason. The natural behavior of crawfish farmed in rice-paddy ponds across South Louisiana is to dig watery burrows to escape summer heat and spawn in semi-hibernation. But last summer’s intense drought dried up even irrigated ponds, cracked open the clay soil, and baked those burrows.
Read MoreThe U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the opening of a SBA Business Recovery Center in Avondale on Tuesday, April 2, to provide a wide range of services to businesses impacted by severe or extreme drought that occurred Sept. 19 - Dec. 5, 2023. The center will open as indicated below.
“Given the economic losses Louisiana businesses have faced, our priority is to provide them with all the support they need to assist in their recovery,” said Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration.
As we head into Easter weekend, crawfish sellers are warning customers about the ongoing crawfish crisis.
If your family plans to host a crawfish boil, sellers said you may want to have a backup plan. Restaurant owners said they don’t have much on hand and if they do, it’s going to cost you.
Read MoreThe U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding small nonfarm businesses in Louisiana about the approaching deadline to apply for a federal disaster loan for economic injury after the statewide drought.
The deadline to apply is Monday, April 29.
Read MoreGood Friday is a big day for seafood, but one of the worst crawfish seasons on record has made it hard on local sellers.
Crawfish prices went up just ahead of Easter weekend by 50 cents a pound, almost double what they were last Easter, according to The Crawfish App.
Read MoreState lawmakers advanced separate bills Tuesday to address the dominance of cheap foreign seafood in Louisiana. One would require seafood dealers to pay higher fees for importing foreign catch into the state, and another would require wholesalers and retailers to obtain a new seafood importer license.
House Bill 748, sponsored by Rep. Jessica Domangue, R-Houma, would raise the state’s imported seafood safety fee from a flat $100 per year to a 0.1% assessment on the company’s gross revenue.
Read MoreOver the past decade, crawfish (often known as crayfish outside the US) production in Louisiana and the surrounding region has grown to become, arguably, the second most valuable sector in US aquaculture behind only catfish. This low-input, environmentally sustainable industry is based on management practices that mimic natural hydrological and vegetative cycles. It is also, however, greatly influenced by the weather and when normal precipitation patterns are disrupted crawfish populations (and harvests) can be significantly impacted. This 2023- 2024 season is a sobering illustration of how severe those impacts can be.
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