Tag Archives: Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board
Ida grounded this shrimper’s boat, then thieves raided it. Now a fundraiser aims to help.
Rita Verdin of Golden Meadow said her husband, Rodney, returns to the marsh to check on his boat, La Belle Idee, and each week finds more is missing. She estimates thieves have stolen about $20,000 so far, including the propeller, rudder, generator and other electronics. Rita said she reached out to the news industry after the family couldn’t find help anywhere else. Hearing the news, Lt. Gov. Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board reached out to New Orleans Chef Amy Sins, who is also president of Fill the Needs, a nonprofit that aids with ongoing hurricane-recovery efforts. >click to read< 17:32 >click here Hurricane Ida- Louisiana Shrimper – Fill the Needs and please donate if you can.
Louisiana Shrimp Association donates shrimp to Second Harvest Food Bank
A food pantry in New Orleans has received nearly 2,500 pounds of shrimp to help families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second Harvest Food Bank is the recipient of the donation, announced Friday by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. The donation, which will cover a few pounds each for families, was given by Ronnie Anderson and David and Kim Chauvin, owners of Bluewater Shrimp Company, based in Dulac, Louisiana. >click to read< 08:28
Mike Voisin’s Widow to Walk the Hill A Year After Husband’s Death
The owner of one of Louisiana’s oldest and best known oyster-processing companies, Mike Voisin was instrumental in founding the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board in 1984, as well as the Oyster Walk. He was an outspoken voice, supporting both the quality of Gulf seafood, as well as the culture of its community. Read [email protected] 20:23
Audit finds lax controls in spending BP money by La. seafood board
BATON ROUGE — A scathing state audit, released Monday morning, points to possible improper spending by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. The report said that the board’s former executive director Ewell Smith approved payments for sponsorship events “in excess of the limits previously authorized by the board.” In one case, the audit claims Smith more than doubled a $200,000 sponsorship of the recent Super Bowl held in the Louisiana Superdome without board approval. READ [email protected] 11:54
New head of Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Karen Profita, to face money challenges
Though the board has been in existence for decades, it has become more prominent after proceeds from BP left it flush with $30 million for promotion campaigns to mitigate the spill’s damage to the reputation of the state’s seafood. Over the summer, however, the board ran into a stumbling block. Some thought the board had only until this month to empty that account, which was almost half-full at the time. more@houmatoday 10:46
McLaren New Interim Head of Seafood Board While Dardenne Searches for Replacement
Almost a month after Ewell Smith resigned as the executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne has named the current assistant director Kristin McLaren as interim executive director while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement. more@gulfseafoodnews 14:29
The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board seeks applicants: Executive Director
The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board is seeking applications from people interested in its open executive director job. Ewell Smith resigned from the position shortly after state lawmakers shifted oversight responsibility of the board to the lieutenant governor. The change was designed to strengthen supervision of a 14-member board that has received millions in recovery money from the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill. more@houmatoday [email protected] 08:14
Politics catching up with Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board
BATON ROUGE – Last week saw Ewell Smith resign as executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board after 13 years of service. And despite the lengthy reign, it was really only the last two years that did him in, thanks in large part to coastal lawmakers. The board was once a sleepy quasi-government organization, but that all changed when BP gave it $30 million to help the seafood industry recover from the 2010 oil spill. more@acadiaparishtoday 20:26
“It is with a very heavy heart I write this letter to provide my resignation.” Ewell Smith Resigns from Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board
In a letter to Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board chairman Chef John Folse, Ewell Smith has announced his resignation as the executive director of the state’s seafood organization after serving in that capacity for more than 13 years. During his tenure with the organization, Smith has led market development, promotional activities and educational outreach for all of Louisiana’s seafood products. more@gulfseafoodinstitute 16:15
Louisiana needs to spend seafood promotion dollars
Time is running out for the state to spend millions of dollars aimed at convincing consumers Louisiana seafood is safe to eat. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne told the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board on Wednesday that five months remain to spend $16 million still left from $30 million BP gave the state after an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The money will expire in November unless BP agrees to an extension. continued@The Advocate
Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board oversight shifted to lt. governor
BATON ROUGE, La. – Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne has received new responsibilities from state lawmakers, giving him oversight of a board that promotes Louisiana seafood. The seafood board had only modest funding before the BP oil spill in 2010, with about a $300,000 annual budget. It had been largely autonomous, under some oversight from the wildlife and fisheries department. But the board’s profile was raised when it received $30 million from BP for a seafood marketing campaign, to reassure visitors that Louisiana’s seafood was safe. continued@houmatoday
Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board could become Louisiana’s newest agency
BATON ROUGE — With lawmakers debating this session where to place the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and who should oversee it, a new proposal has emerged to give it full autonomy and transform it into a standalone political subdivision. continued
Locals say blue crab catches plummeting – “The BP oil spill was in 2010. You do the math.”
Local blue crab catches are reported more scarce than ever this year, and nobody is sure why. “There are absolutely no crabs,” said Keith Watts, Crab Task Force representative for the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. “We’re not catching anything. It’s ridiculous.” Watts has made up his mind the BP oil spill of 2010, which leaked roughly 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, is responsible for the declining blue crab population. “It’s just too much of coincidence for it not to be,” he said. “Crabs live for two to three years. The oil spill was in 2010. You do the math.” continued
Larry Avery Sees Opportunities For Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board
Larry Avery is a man who sees opportunity where others may see only a meal. And he will create opportunities while bringing decades of business-building acumen and branding savvy to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board as its new seafood processor representative. “I know and understand the problems and opportunities facing our business,” said Avery, 61, a managing partner of Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood with over 30 years of professional experience. continued
Louisiana Chef’s Solution to Asian Carp Invasion – Eat Them! video
louisianaseafoodnews.com – Louisiana Chef Philippe Parola has had his eye on the Asian carp situation in Louisiana for several years, and he is not shy about expressing his worry and frustration over the slow bureaucracy of addressing what he sees as a serious threat to the ecosystem and the state’s multi-million dollar recreational and commercial fishing industry. continued
Louisiana Murky Dealings: Bill makes for fisheries furor – Money Grab Alleged – Motives are Questioned
Two bills filed in the Louisiana House and Senate that would radically change the status of the board that markets the state’s seafood are whipping up a maelstrom within the $2.4 billion industry it serves. continued
Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board: New Orleans Saints deal was telling ordeal
The potential that Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries could end up running the show upon whose stage the state will market its seafood is causing distress among some fishermen and fish dealers. Asked why that potential is seen as a bad thing, some opponents of legislation submitted by Sen. Gerald Long (R-Winnfield) and Rep. Gordon Dove (R-Houma) point to elements of a deal struck last year with the New Orleans Saints as proof. The contract with the Saints, continued
Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board alternative bill gets mixed reviews
Sen. Norby Chabert began sculpting a new vision for the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board during the last legislative session, and continues a path toward change during the current one. But the Houma Republican’s new bill, which would place the embattled entity under the auspices of the Lieutenant Governor rather than the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has been less than well received by fishermen and others in the industry. continued
New Seafood Board has Big Job Representing $2.4 Billion Industry
by Springfield Lewis/Louisiana Seafood News – The 12 new members of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board inherit an organization proven many times over as an advocate for the state’s commercial fishing community – in good times and especially bad. They begin their terms representing six distinct industries: crab, finfish, oysters, shrimp, alligator and crawfish. And as diverse as those industries might be, the board’s overall effectiveness will come down to its ability to work together to benefit the entire community of 12,000+ fishermen. continued
