Tag Archives: Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival

New Orleans shrimp festival passes genetic test confirming Gulf Coast origin

Recent genetic tests have revealed that two major Southern seafood festivals served imported, farm-raised shrimp instead of the Gulf-caught varieties they advertised, sparking concerns among local commercial fishermen and seafood advocates.  SEAD Consulting, at the request of regional shrimpers, used its RIGHTTest genetic testing technology to identify the origins of shrimp labeled as Gulf-caught at these events. Results showed widespread mislabeling at both the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City and the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Ala. Not all festivals failed the test, however. At the Louisiana Shrimp Festival & Shrimp Aid in New Orleans, which was also tested, every vendor passed the RIGHTTest, proving that all shrimp served at this event was authentic, wild-caught Gulf shrimp. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:48

Louisiana lawmaker grills Shrimp & Petroleum Festival for selling imported shrimp

A state lawmaker has issued a scathing rebuke of what she characterized as an embarrassing and “misleading” response from the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival after the Illuminator reported that multiple vendors sold imported shrimp at this year’s event. State Rep. Jessica Domangue, R-Houma, wrote an open letter to festival organizers that she posted Thursday on Facebook. “Growing up in St. Mary Parish in a family of generations of commercial shrimpers, I was appalled to learn of the widespread selling of imported shrimp at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival,” Domangue wrote. “I found the festival’s official response in an October 1 press release to be an embarrassment.” The testing was performed at the five-day festival over the Labor Day weekend by Sea D Consulting, a food safety technology company that recently developed a rapid seafood species identification test in collaboration with Florida State University microbiologist Prashant Singh. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:32