Tag Archives: Louisiana Sea Grant
“We’re not getting the full value out of it”: The future of local seafood in Louisiana
“Industries change over time, like anywhere you are, and so we’re just adapting to the new realities of the seafood supply chain.” LSU’s Seafood Processing Demonstration Lab is a hub for research and innovation. “Our main focus is in underutilized species and byproduct recovery,” said. As the only facility of its kind in-state, this Louisiana Sea Grant-sponsored program works with local processors, restaurateurs, and fishermen, to build local connections. “Louisiana is the #2 seafood state in the nation,” said co-director Thomas Hymel, “but a lot of our product is uh–we’re not getting the full value out of it.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:10
Louisiana Fishing Industry Suffered $579 Million in Damages Due to 2020-21 Hurricanes
Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida, which swept through Louisiana during various points in 2020 and 2021, resulted in an estimated $579 million in losses to the state’s fisheries infrastructure, revenues, and biological resources, according to a study by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LSU and Louisiana Sea Grant. The study’s findings, released today, analyzes monetized losses to fisheries infrastructure (including vessels), sales or gross revenue, and resources losses to fish and oysters. The study also projects financial losses that are continuing into 2022. >click to read< 10:14
Delcambre Shrimper Looses Boat, Livelihood and Dignity As Provider
For every hurricane during the past 40-years Preston Dore has rode out the storms at the Delcambre docks on his shrimp boat. After Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and a host of others, both he and the boat have walked away mostly unscathed. Hurricane Ida was different. The storm has cost him his boat, his livelihood and has stripped away his dignity as a provider for his family. Unlike previous hurricanes his current boat, the Demi Rae named after his 7-year-old daughter, was not in its Delcambre berth, but in a Chauvin dry-dock,,, The boat was an easy target for the storm’s 170-mph winds as it passed over bayou after bayou ripping the heart out of Louisiana’s seafood industry. >click to read< Donate to the Gulf Seafood Foundation’ “Helping Hands” for Hurricane Ida by clicking the “Donate” button. 11:47
Coronavirus: Louisiana Direct – LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Sea Grant aim to help seafood industry cope
Restaurants that use large amounts of seafood are only offering carryout service, and they have drastically scaled back their seafood purchases. “I’m sure it’s less than 10% of its previous quantity,” said Rusty Gaude, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent in the New Orleans area. A seafood marketing program, Louisiana Direct Seafood, is one way of helping fishermen and dealers by connecting them directly with consumers. The Louisiana Direct Seafood program helps consumers buy seafood from fishermen and vendors. Video, more info, >click to read< 15:26
Louisiana’s Seafood Future Releases 2019 Findings Report on Fishing Industry and Coastal Change
The resulting outreach effort, Louisiana’s Seafood Future (LSF), sought to highlight innovative strategies created by seafood industry members as they confront a changing coast. LSF’s 2019 report distills ideas from crabbers, shrimpers, finfishermen, oyster fishermen, dock workers and processors—people at the heart of Louisiana’s seafood economy and culture. Overall, people who provided ideas to LSF said they wanted to stay in the seafood industry, even as they worried about future trends and wanted more information about what to expect. >click to read< 18:01
Program helps area shrimpers sell ‘ultimate premium product’
The Louisiana Limited Wild Plate Frozen shrimp program is informing buyers about the food preservation technology. “This is the ultimate premium product,” said Thomas Hymel, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent. “It’s like it fell out of a cast net and it’s frozen.” Shrimp are packaged in 5-pound containers, then held on a plate freezer that is kept at minus 35 degrees. The products treated with this process look fresh from the ocean when they are thawed, Hymel said, with heads and even antenna intact. “This is as close to the ocean as you can get,” he said. The process also can be used for fish, Hymel said. >click to read<13:40
Is the United States ready for offshore aquaculture?
Harlon Pearce walks muck-booted past processors gutting wild drum and red snapper to showcase a half-full new 5,000-square-foot (500-square-meter) freezer he hopes will someday house a fresh boom of marine fish. Harlon’s LA Fish sits just across the railroad tracks from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, perfectly positioned to ship fish out of Louisiana. As president of the New Orleans–based Gulf Seafood Institute, seafood supplier Pearce is a big fish himself in these parts, connected to fishermen, federal agencies, restaurateurs and even the oil industry. He knows better than anyone that wild fisheries alone can’t supply U.S. consumers’ growing demand for fish. Which is why he’s doing his best to bring everyone to the table to achieve one goal: farming the Gulf of Mexico. click here to read the story 16:31
Shrimpers, Crabbers Learn New Regulations at Louisiana Fisheries Meeting
Shrimpers and crabbers learned about the newest regulations, techniques and equipment at a Louisiana Fisheries Forward meeting on March 24, organized by the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant. Thu Bui, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent, said the meetings are intended to help fishers learn about new developments before their peak seasons get underway soon. “It makes them more professional and gives them the information so they can become more profitable,” Read the rest here 09:55
There’s more to shrimping than trawling
DELCAMBRE – Experts from the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant met with area shrimpers to help them become more efficient, learn new technology and comply with federal fishing regulations. “We are talking about effic
iency and quality,” said Thomas Hymel, AgCenter and Sea Grant extension agent. “The challenge the Louisiana shrimping industry has is to bring in a quality product competitive with imports.” Hymel said the state’s shrimping business has lost significant numbers. “The folks out there now are the survivors.” continue reading
Seafood Academy expands industry
Fishermen across south Louisiana are going back to school this month to learn more about their livelihood. “What we’re trying to do is increase professionalism and quality so that we can get a better price for seafood,” said Alan Mathe
rne, a Louisiana Sea Grant coastal and fisheries outreach specialist. Read more
