A food vendor at the Louisiana Crawfish Festival in St. Bernard Parish has served Chinese-sourced crustaceans and failed to disclose it as required under state law, organizers have confirmed. WVUE-TV Fox 8 reports organizers were made aware of the infraction when an attendee sent them pictures of a vendor using packages of foreign crawfish. Louisiana law requires fair food vendors, restaurants, seafood markets, grocers and other retailers to display signs that detail the origin of any foreign crawfish they sell. Crawfish Festival secretary Cisco Gonzales Jr. confirmed to Fox 8 that the visitor told organizers the vendor had no such signage. Video, links, 
Commercial fishermen and seafood processors and distributors looking to switch to new, lower-carbon emission systems say the federal funding they relied on for this work is either frozen or unavailable due to significant budget cuts promoted by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. The changes are designed to replace old diesel-burning engines and outdated at-sea cooling systems and are touted by environmentalists as a way to reduce seafood’s carbon footprint. Salmon harvesters in Washington state, scallop distributors in Maine and halibut fishermen in Alaska are among those who told The Associated Press their federal commitments for projects like new boat engines and refrigeration systems have been rescinded or are under review. Photos, video, 
ongressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Troy Nehls (R-TX) reintroduced the Save Our Shrimpers Act, which prohibits federal funds from being made available to International Financial Institutions (IFIs) that finance activities related to shrimp farming, shrimp processing, or the export of shrimp to the United States. This legislation directs an investigation within the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) and requires annual reports to Congress that track whether IFIs’ U.S. Executive Directors are complying with Federal law USC 262(h) and opposing any assistance from international financial institutions that cause injury or harm to U.S. producers. Congressman Higgins has been a strong advocate for Louisiana’s seafood industry. Most recently, in February, he 
When considering things that are distinctly American, several spring to mind. Baseball. Hot dogs. Apple pie. And . . . really good shrimp? While shrimp aren’t unique to the United States, few varieties are as lauded as those caught in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean by southeastern states such as the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Recent testing has shown that as much as 80% of the shrimp being touted as Gulf- or Atlantic-caught are instead coming from farms in foreign countries. Many diners are getting shellfish considered inferior to what they ordered. And that’s a problem. Efforts are being made on federal and state levels to ensure truth-in-labeling becomes the norm. 
Wilbert “Ben” Danos, 95, a native and resident of Larose, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 6, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. Mr. Ben spent his life on the water first as a tugboat captain then became a commercial fisherman. He, with his wife Ruth as his deckhand, trawled for many years proudly creating their legacy of 3 generations of fishermen. He loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren deeply as they did him. He will be missed by all those who knew and loved him. 
Steven “Steve” Claude Bailey, 64, of Pensacola, Florida, passed away on February 21, 2025. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 24, 1960 to Winston Claude Bailey and Geraldine Bailey. He was married to Merlene Bailey for 35 years. Steve had a career in commercial fishing. He was the owner and captain of the Me Too 662410. He was a member of Heritage Baptist Church and had a passion for hunting and fishing. Steve was preceded in death by his father, Winston Claude Bailey; mother, Geraldine Bailey; sister, Dayna Broxson. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia Merlene Bailey; son, Nicholas Cain (Kristen) Bailey; daughter, Star Savannah Bailey Super; step daughter, Cayce (Robert) Forte. 
The ruse was first exposed in Morgan City last summer, at the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. Acting on a hunch and armed with a rapid genetic test, a team of consultants for the domestic shrimp industry ordered cooked plates of shrimp from five different vendors. The shrimp was supposedly sourced from the Gulf of Mexico — but within minutes, the consultants say they discovered the truth. Four of the five samples contained genetic markers of imported farm-raised shrimp, not Gulf shrimp like the vendors claimed. The team was with SeaD Consulting, a Houston-based company dedicated to rooting out seafood fraud. Funded in part by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an industry group for shrimp fishers and processors, SeaD is pioneering this new type of rapid genetic test, which specializes in identifying shrimp species. 
“Mississippi Seafood Labeling Task Force.” The goal is to bring a panel of experts and governing figures to the table,,,
Legislation initially intended to require those selling seafood in Mississippi to be transparent about where the food comes from, has been altered to create a task force to tackle the state’s mislabeling crisis. House Bill 602, which cruised through its chamber without a dissenting vote back in February, was gutted by the Senate before lawmakers in the chamber voted unanimously to advance an amended version of the bill on Thursday. Instead of expanding an existing state law requiring restaurants and others selling certain seafood items to advertise the food’s country of origin, the text now creates the “Mississippi Seafood Labeling Task Force.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:07
The Trump administration’s ongoing review of offshore wind projects will feature different treatment for projects actively under development versus those that have merely been proposed, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday. Burgum’s comments during a visit to a natural gas export terminal in Louisiana suggest the administration may apply less scrutiny to wind farms that have already secured federal permits and are under construction. President Donald Trump indefinitely halted the sale of new offshore wind leases on his first day in office and pausing permitting of all wind projects on federal lands and waters. He also raised the specter of outright cancellations for existing leases. The president directed the Interior Department to review the “necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases” and “identifying any legal bases for such removal.” 
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, has called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to block U.S. taxpayer dollars from financing foreign shrimp aquaculture projects through International Financial Institutions (IFIs). In 
If you’re expected to comply with hundreds of federal rules and regulations that affect your livelihood, wouldn’t you like to know that those rules come from people accountable to you in some way? That’s how our laws are made, after all. They come from Congress, which is accountable to the people through the democratic process. Yet much of what we call federal law comes in the form of rules that are not written by Congress but by unelected bureaucrats in hundreds of federal agencies. To make sure even bureaucrats are accountable, the Constitution usually requires them to be appointed by the president, with Senate confirmation if they have significant authority, like the power to issue rules with the force of law. Unfortunately, Congress often side-steps the Constitution by giving the job of appointing certain officers to someone else. A good example is the regulation of marine fisheries. 
A recent study by SeaD Consulting found that four Lafayette-area seafood restaurants are misrepresenting their shrimp menu items to the public. SeaD Consulting partners with the seafood industry and academic and governmental institutions to conduct genetic testing of seafood species, in order to uncover labeling and substitution fraud in restaurants. On Feb. 27, SeaD released the results of their investigation into the Lafayette-area market. After conducting random genetic testing on shrimp dishes from 24 local restaurants, the group found that 33% of the sampled restaurants are serving farm-raised imported shrimp. 
“The Texas and U.S. shrimp industry in the Gulf of America is facing a catastrophic crisis that threatens its survival. Our industry has faced years of devastation due to the influx of inferior, farm-raised, and foreign-imported shrimp, posing an existential threat to hardworking Gulf shrimpers. I stand with Representative A.J. Louderback (District 30, Texas House) in his effort to protect our Texas Gulf shrimp industry. His bill, HCR 76, urges the federal government to limit the mass importation of foreign shrimp, safeguard Gulf Coast shrimpers from unfair competition, and ensure consumers are protected from substandard shrimp that does not meet U.S. health and safety standards. 
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. 
Sitting in the business office next to his boat dock and shrimp processing plant, David Chauvin couldn’t be more excited about the Gulf of Mexico’s rebrand to the Gulf of America. Chauvin is already scrawling Gulf of America on his seafood companies’ invoices. Last week, he submitted a trademark application for a new Gulf of America logo he plans to use on his shrimp packaging later this year. Chauvin’s life is intimately tied to, and almost entirely dependent on the gulf. His family businesses include David Chauvin Seafood, Bluewater Shrimp and Chicky Lou’s. They cover nearly all the stages of getting shrimp from the gulf to people’s plates. The companies sell fresh shrimp wholesale and through a retail store. They also peel, process and freeze shrimp, and supply shrimp boats with fuel and ice. Photos, 
The 2024 hurricane season was undoubtedly a brutal one for Manatee County, especially in places like the village of Cortez. Remnants of the damage caused by five feet of storm surge can be seen on the street’s months later, and after much contemplation on whether to have it, residents banned together and decided to host the 43rd annual commercial fishing festival with a very fitting theme: ‘Swamped but Never Sunk.’ “It feels like it’s coming back to life again. I’m seeing all the people out, all my neighbors, the volunteers, it’s just a good feeling,” said Kris Martinez, with the Cortez Village Historical Society. 
The Coast Guard detained an alien crewmember illegally present in the U.S. and the captain of a commercial fishing vessel near Port Isabel, Friday afternoon. During a commercial fishing vessel boarding, a Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boat crew identified a crewmember as a Mexican alien illegally present in the U.S. The captain of the fishing vessel, F/V Los Nietos, had an outstanding felony warrant for weapons charges. The alien was transferred to U.S. Border Patrol for processing and the vessel’s captain was booked into the South Padre Island Jail. Photos, 
On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued three people from a fishing vessel that capsized off the coast of Louisiana. At about 0830 hours on Thursday morning, Eighth Coast Guard District received an EPIRB alert from a fishing vessel located about 40 miles off Calibou Bay. The watchstanders issued a broadcast requesting help from merchant vessels and diverted a nearby Ocean Sentry aircrew to the scene. The aircrew spotted the boat, which was partially sunken, and a life raft floating near it. Photos, Video, 
Following the lead of the Geographic Names Information System, Google has changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps. Google announced two weeks ago that it would change the name of the body of water between Mexico and Florida when GNIS made the change, it would follow suit. The label will differ depending on where a user is located. For people in the U.S., the map will read “Gulf of America.” Users in Mexico will see “Gulf of Mexico.” While people everywhere else will see “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).” Video, 
