Category Archives: Gulf of Mexico

Lawmakers support new fees on Louisiana seafood dealers who import foreign catch

State 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.  The proposal marks the freshman lawmaker’s first bill, which Domangue, the daughter of a commercial fisherman, called “very special” for its ability to protect the domestic seafood industry. It cleared the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment with unanimous support and will head to the House floor for consideration. more. >>click to read<< 08:05

Graves and Peltola Urge Biden to Immediately Halt Unsafe Shrimp Imports

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) and Congresswoman Mary Sattler Peltola (Alaska) sent a letter to President Biden urging him to immediately halt shrimp imports into the United States from India, following concerning reports of severe food and safety issues and labor violations in Indian shrimp processing facilities. The reports highlight that shrimp imported from India are farmed and they regularly do not meet domestic health standards; the suppliers themselves know this to be true, evidenced by their tactics to evade detection at American ports. Graves and Peltola noted that there is already high-quality, healthy shrimp caught in America that is being pushed out of the market by foreign shrimp sold at artificially low prices and unsafe for consumption. more, >>click to read<< 12:49

Southern Shrimp Alliance: The Outlaw Ocean Project Investigation Regarding Imported Shrimp Supply Chains

On the same day that Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) publicly released the results of its three-year investigation into forced labor practices in the Indian shrimp industry, Hidden Harvest: Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in India’s Shrimp Industry, and the Associated Press published an article and video news story by investigative journalists Martha Mendoza, Mahesh Kumar, and Piyush Nagpal confirming CAL’s findings, The Outlaw Ocean Project has provided a rare view into the inner workings of a major Indian shrimp exporter to the United States, Choice Trading Corporation Private Limited. more, >>click to read<< 09:25

Southeast Texas shrimpers concerned for collapse of shrimping industry

An association that represents Port Arthur’s shrimpers is concerned that imports of farm grown shrimp could collapse the local shrimping industry. In the last 18 months, southeast Texas shrimpers have docked their boats due to the now unaffordable costs of fishing. “The prices that they’re getting at the dock are more like $0.75 as opposed to $2.50 or $3 a pound which they were getting only 18 months ago,” says Father Sinclair Oubre, the treasurer for the Port Arthur Area Shrimpers Association. Video, more, >>click to read<< 08:29

The Future of Florida’s Commercial Fishing Industry Summit 2024

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management is hosting a commercial fishing industry summit called The Future of Florida’s Commercial Fisheries on May 21–22, 2024, in St. Augustine, Florida. We are honored to bring together those individuals and companies providing the world’s finest shrimp, crabs, lobsters, and finfish throughout the globe: the men and women of Florida’s commercial fishing industry! This summit will provide fishermen, dock owners, dealers, and other related businesses an opportunity to network, gain information, and collaboratively envision what Florida’s commercial industry will look like in 5 to 10 years. 09:48

Annual blessing of the fleet helps after Hurricane Ian’s devastation

The blessing of the historic shrimping fleet is an annual tradition on Fort Myers Beach. After the devastation of Hurricane Ian, the shrimping fleet could use some blessings for even more hurdles ahead. Still, the Fort Myers Beach shrimping community was happy to have at least one day to celebrate. Photos, video, more, >>click to read<< 07:49

Amid Louisiana’s crawfish shortage, governor issues disaster declaration

Amid a crawfish shortage in Louisiana, the nation’s top producer of the crustaceans that are a staple in Gulf Coast seafood boils, Gov. Jeff Landry issued a disaster declaration for the impacted industry Wednesday. Last year’s drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze in the Bayou State have devastated this year’s crawfish harvest and led to significant price hikes for those purchasing “mudbugs.” Landry says the shortage is not only affecting Louisiana’s economy but also “our way of life.” “All 365,000 crawfish acres in Louisiana have been affected by these conditions,” Landry said in a written statement Wednesday. “That is why I am issuing a disaster declaration. more, >>click to read<< 11:34

On Sunday The Fleet Will Be Blessed

St. Raphael’s will hold its regular Sunday Service at 10 AM at the Erickson and Jensen Shrimp docks (1100 Shrimpboat Lane off Main Street).  The Blessing Service will take place at 11 AM. This is a short service of prayers, songs, and readings followed by the Blessing of the Fleet where Reverend Rowe will walk along the docks and personally bless each boat. After the Blessing, St. Raphael’s will be serving its famous peel and eat shrimp. Thank you to Ellie Bunting from the Estero Island Historical Society for sharing these 2 classic photos. more, >>click to read<< 17:35

Louisiana shrimpers forced to gamble their livelihood to stay in the industry

Craig Theriot looks out at the Gulf of Mexico as his boat is fueled up. It’s the waters he’s worked his entire life. If anything breaks in the next 10 days, he’ll never be able to work her waters again.”I’m leaving tomorrow. I don’t make much money, but it’s a check,” Theriot said Feb. 27. “Hopefully we don’t have a breakdown, ‘cuz if we get a breakdown, I’m done. You can put me on the shelf.” The life and work that he loves is in jeopardy, more now than any other year. Boats are being sold, and processors are closing their doors, all because of the record low prices. Imports are driving the American shrimper out of the market, and Theriot doesn’t want to give it up waiting and watching his savings dwindle. He’d rather go out working. more, >>click to read<< 08:20

Louisiana LNG Could Be ‘Nail in the Coffin’ for Local Fishermen

Phillip Dyson has been a commercial fisherman in Cameron, Louisiana for 49 years. His father fished before him, and his son and grandson also fish, shrimp, and oyster in the brackish waters where the Calcasieu River empties out into the Gulf of Mexico. Even his great-grandson is getting into the family trade. “Always in Cameron,” Dyson said. Even in a state famous for its seafood, Cameron once stood out. A few decades ago, Cameron was the largest producer of seafood in the entire country, hauling in hundreds of millions of pounds of fish, shrimp, and oysters each year. But those days are long gone. Cameron Parish is still home to a dwindling number of commercial fishermen. Two decades ago, there were around 250 commercial fishing vessels in Cameron. “We’re down to about 16 now,” Commercial fishermen in southwest Louisiana say that the growth of LNG is putting them out of business. They are particularly outraged at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG facility, which sits at the mouth of the Calcasieu River on the Gulf of Mexico. The facility has been flaring on and off for the better part of two years, hobbled by persistent equipment malfunctions. Noise and air pollution have made life difficult for nearby residents. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 14:46

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 74′ Steel Scalloper/Dragger, Caterpillar 3412

To review specifications, information, and 38 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:29

Commercial Fisherman Juan Bueno Sanchez Found Dead in St. Petersburg, Investigation Underway

In a heart-wrenching incident off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida, the local community and the maritime industry are mourning the loss of 45-year-old commercial fisherman Juan Bueno Sanchez. Sanchez, a dedicated shrimp boat worker, was reported missing by his concerned wife on February 23, when attempts to contact him failed for several days. This tragic discovery was made on Monday, following an intensive search operation led by the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Coast Guard. The disappearance of Juan Bueno Sanchez prompted a swift response from local authorities. Over the weekend, the St. Petersburg Police Department, in collaboration with the Coast Guard, launched a comprehensive search operation in the waters surrounding the area. more, >>click to read<< 07:50

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Fiberglass Dragger, 3408 Cat, /State and Federal Permits

To review specifications, information, and 38 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:52

Mississippi Launches Commercial Vessel Safety Program to Protect Fishermen

Tomorrow marks the dawn of a safer and more secure future for Mississippi’s commercial fishermen. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is set to launch its Commercial Vessel Safety Program, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to promote safety and compliance with regulations in the industry. The program, which falls under the purview of the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Fisheries Disaster Recovery Program, is specifically tailored to the needs of commercial fishermen who were licensed in the state in 2019. The MDMR’s Commercial Vessel Safety Program stands as a beacon of hope for Mississippi’s commercial fishermen, offering vital resources to help them operate their vessels safely and legally. The program covers the installation of additional safety equipment on their vessels, ensuring the protection of both fishermen and their crew. more, >>click to read<< 18:03

Southern Shrimp Alliance Submits Comments Opposing Request by Government of Vietnam to be Treated as a Market Economy

Over the objection of a large and diverse group of American industries and producers, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) is currently conducting an administrative proceeding to determine whether Vietnam should Government of Vietnam a market economy for the purposes of our antidumping duty laws. Commerce’s current practice treats Vietnam as a non-market economy (NME) and applies special rules to address the distortions caused by the government of Vietnam’s control over the country’s economy. Under these special rules, Vietnamese shrimp exporters that are controlled by the government are subject to a 25.76 percent antidumping duty rate. more, >>click to read<< 11:23

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 70′ Steel Stern Dragger, Permits, 600HP Lugger Diesel

To review specifications, information, and 9 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:50

Will $2.9 million in grants actually help Mississippi fishermen?

In 2023, it was declared that it was a federal fisheries disaster, making Mississippi fisheries eligible for assistance. “At this point, it’s more like a feel-good program,” said one fisherman. “Here, let me give you a little money, make you feel better.” It’s been five years since disaster struck the fishing industry in the gulf, and while fishermen have received some help since then, they say the response has been slow – too slow to actually be beneficial. Mark Kopszywa has found himself in a perpetual cycle of playing catch-up after taking such a big loss in 2019 and not being able to make up for it quickly. Video, more, >>click to read<< 06:29

Senator Wicker Statement on the $2.9 Million Awarded to Mississippi Fisheries for 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway Openings

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) awarded $2,993,283 in federal disaster relief funds to Mississippi’s shrimp and oyster fisheries. The funding is available because DOC declared a “commercial fishery failure” in 2020 after the repeated openings of the Bonnet Carré Spillway in 2019. The state will distribute the funds to fishermen, aquaculture businesses, and seafood processors to help cover some of their losses. “This funding is helpful, but it does not make the impacted businesses whole. It should not take years for disaster funds to trickle in. more, >>click to read<< 13:39

Commercial Fisherman Jimmy Bourque, Sr., of St. Martinville, La, has passed away

Jimmy Bourque, Sr., a dedicated commercial fisherman, has sadly passed away at the age of 77, in his hometown of St. Martinville. Born on December 11, 1946, Jimmy’s departure on February 3, 2024, has left a void in the hearts of his loved ones and the community he cherished so deeply. Throughout his life, Jimmy exemplified a profound love for the Atchafalaya Basin. His passion for fishing was unmatched, and he would often lose track of time by the sounds of nature and the stillness of the water.  The peace and tranquility he found in the Basin was captivating; it was a place where he could rejuvenate his spirit and connect with the natural world. more, >>click to read<< 19:06

Shrimpers face pricing issues

“I’ve been in the business with my parents when they were alive, straight out of high school, which is about thirty something years ago. I have never seen the price of shrimp this low,” said Jose Cuevas Jr., owner of Los Tortugos Seafood Market. Cuevas has a fleet consisting of eleven shrimp boat. He says all of his boats are now sitting idle because it’s not cost effective to go fish. He said it costs 30 to 40 thousand dollars just to fuel up one boat to go out. Other shrimpers are having the same issues with fuel costs keeping them docked.  “Usually for us, around this time of year, fuel prices are a dollar fifty. Right now, they’re at close to three dollars, so double,” said Alberto Ochoa, owner of Ochoa Trawlers. Video, more, >>click to read<< 15:02

$20M+ in federal funds to California fisheries for disaster relief, $7M+ Oregon

More than $7,000,000 is going to Oregon fisheries as part of $42,000,000 in federal fishery disaster funding. Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced allocation of those funds for recovery from fishery disasters in Oregon, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries from 2017 to 2022.  The federal funding will help ocean commercial fishermen in Oregon recover from significant economic losses in 2018, 2019, and 2020 from declining salmon populations. For California, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced allocation of $20.6-million to address a fishery resource disaster that occurred in the 2023 Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook Ocean and inland salmon fisheries. more, >>click to read<< 10:00

Alabama eyes source-disclosure requirements for seafood, whether it was wild-caught or farmed

Restaurants in Alabama would be required to reveal the origin of most seafoods on their menu under a bill heading for consideration by the state House of Representatives. The measure would also require all foodservice establishments to indicate whether the fin or shellfish was farm-raised or wild-caught. The country where the fish originated would have to be disclosed via either menus or placards on the wall. The same channels would be used for differentiating between farm-raised and wild-caught proteins. The bill is intended to protect the state’s vibrant seafood industry from foreign competition. Consumers would know when they were supporting local fishermen and when their money was going toward suppliers from outside the United States. more, >>click to read<< 17:06

Southeast Texas shrimpers hope two new bills will help keep imported shrimp from taking away their jobs

The Port Arthur Shrimper’s Association held an informational meeting Wednesday to help stop shrimp dumping. Shrimp dumping is the heavy importing of shrimp from other countries. Shrimpers in Southeast Texas are also pushing to impose stricter tariffs on imported shrimp. They say regulating the amount and quality of shrimp coming in could save their livelihoods. Two new federal bills could potentially benefit shrimpers and Southeast Texans. Local shrimpers say they aren’t making any money because U.S. businesses are buying imported shrimp at low prices. Video, more, >>click to read<< 09:47

From Bubba Gump to bust? American shrimpers face extinction.

On a chilly December morning, the captain of the Miss Patti is ready to throw his lines and go shrimping – well, almost. Brian Jordan’s deckhand is in a foul mood, and it’s no wonder why. Is any of this worth it?  Here on the tiny working waterfront of Tybee Island, Georgia, the hesitancy is logical. Shrimp prices cratered this year, and hundreds of boats from Brownsville, Texas, to Harkers Island, North Carolina, remained dockside. The problem hasn’t been a lack of shrimp or the price of diesel. Instead, freezers across the United States are filled to the gills. A glut of imported shrimp has dropped the price to about half of what shrimp boats received in the 1980s. At stake is the livelihood of Mr. Jordan and shrimpers like him nationwide. They can’t compete with overseas rivals who raise and harvest shrimp in lower-cost “aquaculture’’ farms. more, >>click to read<< 13:06

NTSB Issues Safety Alert on Personal Locator Devices for Mariners

A new safety alert issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to provide each crewmember with a personal locator device. These devices improve a mariner’s chance of rescue during an emergency. During an emergency at sea, a mariner’s chance of survival decreases if search and rescue cannot quickly and accurately identify their location. Personal locator devices, such as personal locator beacons (PLB) or satellite emergency notification devices (SEND), can accurately pinpoint a person’s location. NTSB investigations found that currently available personal locator beacons provide a location accuracy of about 300 feet and a nearly instant search and rescue notification when activated. more, <<click to read<<17:24

U.S. Department of Commerce allocates more than $42M in fishery disaster funding

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today the allocation of more than $42 million to address fishery disasters that occurred in Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries from 2017 to 2022. “Sustainable fisheries are essential to the health of our communities and support the nation’s economic well-being,” said Secretary Raimondo. “With these allocations, it is our hope that these funds help the affected communities and tribes recover from these disasters.” Today’s announcement applies to the following fishery disasters: Links, more, >>click to read<< 14:34

Last haul? As Georgetown eyes redevelopment, shrimpers brace for end of working waterfront

Timmy Jordan has spent most of his 49 years on the water. No wife. No kids. Just days and nights of dragging coastal waterway bottoms for shrimp, hoping for a good haul. But over the last few months, he has grappled with the stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining and depression. He’s been preparing to moor his trawler alongside sailboats scattered in the Sampit River because he and this city’s other five shrimp boat owners were told the dock at the end of Cannon Street will close this month. The target date for the closure has been fluid since last year as the Tarbox family worked through selling Independent Seafood, the former wholesale market on the dock that originally opened in 1939. The shrimpers have tried to find open dock space from the North Carolina line toward Georgia but have been told no one has room. For them, an anchor is the only option. “This is my life ending,” Jordan said aboard his Miss Lue. “This is death for us that’s been in the business for so many years. We’re dying. It’s dying, and we’re dying with it.” 63 photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:55

Louisiana pogy industry faces backlash as reports show more massive fish spills

 

When a menhaden ‘mothership’ and its net boats spilled a million fish and left the floating mass to rot off the Louisiana coast, the menhaden industry attempted to ease public outrage and calls for tougher fishing rules with assurances that such incidents hardly ever happen. Nine million wasted fish might seem like a lot, but not when compared with the overall menhaden population, which is immense and shows no signs of decline, said Ben Landry, a spokesperson for Omega. “Sounds like Chicken Little to me,” he said. “This is a fish that numbers more than 100 billion in the Gulf. And there’s concern for 9 million fish? That’s a bit hyperbolic.” photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:48

Fort Myers Beach shrimpers face uncertain waters post-Hurricane Ian – Captains point to imported shrimp

On San Carlos Island, just off Shrimp Boat Lane, the local shrimp fishing community is navigating troubled waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Even with their ships repaired, the challenges for these shrimpers are far from over. Henry Gore, a seasoned shrimp boat captain of over 40 years, tells us it’s the worst state he’s seen for the local shrimping industry. The decline is due to two main factors: the high cost of boat repairs, often exceeding $100,000, and the competition from internationally imported farm shrimp. Video, more, >>click to read<< 10:53

Preserving our heritage and livelihood – A shrimper’s stand against unjust regulations

I’ve been a shrimper for over 45 years. It’s more than just a job; it’s a legacy that’s been passed down through generations in my family. Since I was 15, I’ve been working in the waters of Plaquemines Parish, my workplace, my passion, and my source of livelihood. Today, as I continue to bring the finest Gulf shrimp to your tables, I find myself fighting not only for my job but for the very soul of Louisiana’s shrimping heritage. The recent rule by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) mandating the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) on skimmer trawl vessels longer than 40 feet is a real threat to our community. This rule, though it may seem well-intentioned, is an example of overreach and disregard for our industry’s reality. more, >>click to read<< 13:44