Irish writer Jonathan Swift once wrote, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”
And maybe he was right. Heck, it took me 37 years to muster up the courage to take the plunge—into raw oysters, at least.
If you’re going to cross this cultural bridge into the world of oyster slurping, there’s no better place than the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, which is where I found myself for this month’s Feasting on Agriculture.
Read MoreStronger America Through Seafood (SATS) has launched a new campaign calling on Congress to support a pathway for open ocean aquaculture in U.S. waters.
Fish farming in the open ocean is hindered in America today due to the lack of federal legislation to support industry growth – costing our nation an estimated $877 million and thousands of jobs.
Seafood festivals along the Gulf Coast have faced allegations of passing off imported shrimp as locally sourced.
Seafood Development (SeaD) Consulting have been investigating shrimp festivals along the Gulf who advertise to sell locally caught shrimp, finding that some festival vendors in Morgan City and Gulf Shores were selling imported shrimp and passing it off as Gulf shrimp.
Read MoreCrawfish aquaculture is the most profitable aquaculture endeavor in Louisiana, representing roughly 69% of the total gross farm value generated across all commercial aquaculture enterprises in 2022, according to the Louisiana Summary Agriculture and Natural Resources 2022. Crawfish producers in south Louisiana create a suitable wetland habitat for crawfish to survive, reproduce and grow to harvest size in shallow water impoundments used for both crawfish and rice.
Read MoreThe Morgan City Shrimp and Petroleum Festival was recently in the spotlight for selling imported shrimp. The same consultant group who genetically tested the shrimp continued their investigation at the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores and found the same situation.
Read MoreIn Louisiana, crawfish are a way of life—but shockingly, there are six U.S. states where live Louisiana crawfish are banned!
The penalties? You could face hefty fines or even jail time. Hard to believe, right?
You’d think the solution is simple: just eat them! But the reasons behind these bans might surprise you
Read MoreAs the Tigers and the Razorbacks prepare to face off on Saturday in Fayetteville, the governors of each flagship university's states are entering into their own friendly wager.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, in a Wednesday post on Facebook, challenged Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to a culinary bet related to the game. If Arkansas wins, he will send Sanders a sack of Louisiana crawfish.
Read MoreIn 2023, a severe drought and heat in South Louisiana caused major setbacks for crawfish farmers, with many crawfish and hatchlings perishing. The 2024 season reflected this loss, with lower availability and higher prices. According to LSU AgCenter’s Todd Fontenot, the upcoming season looks more promising, as the crawfish are emerging to better conditions.
Read MoreThis time last year, the effects of south Louisiana's extended summer drought spelled bad news for area crawfish farmers.
It costs a lot of money to pump water into dry fields, and many crawfish and their hatchlings didn't make it through the abnormally hot and dry conditions of 2023. At the start of the 2024 crawfish season, these poor conditions were reflected in the price and availability of one of the region's most anticipated products.
Read MoreA new investigation focused on three of the world’s largest producers of shrimp released on Monday claims that as big Western supermarkets make windfall profits, their aggressive pursuit of ever-lower wholesale prices is causing misery for people at the bottom end of the supply chain.
The regional analysis of the industry in Vietnam, Indonesia and India, which provide about half the shrimp in the world’s top four markets—the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Japan—is based on research done by an alliance of NGOs.
Read MoreIn Louisiana, the changing seasons bring a unique agricultural rhythm where rice and crawfish coexist.
Rice farmer Marty Frey at Four Oaks farm says it's a year-round process between growing and harvesting the rice, then catching the crawfish.
Read MoreThe Seafood Processing Demonstration Lab is inviting people involved in seafood production to attend an open house at the facility on Oct. 22.
The lab is located at the LSU AgCenter Iberia Research Station, and the event will start at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. Lunch and product sampling will be provided. The address is 603 LSU Bridge Road in Jeanerette
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter continues to be a leading resource in crawfish data. Many of you know, LSU and their data sources have been key in all funding opportunities and communications with USDA on any assistance programs we have been able to secure over the past few years. As recently as the ELAP excessive heat calculations of 2023, LSU AgCenter agents and faculty were the leading resource for information on our niche “farm raised fish.” In an effort to continually improve those figures, we are supporting their effort to update key information that is a general resource for the industry and allows their scientists and economists to provide quality anonymous information back to the industry when needed.
Read MoreThe invasive apple snail is popping up all over south Louisiana, causing problems for crawfish and their producers.
“We’ve had a number of crawfish ponds in the past three years that have had to be drained very early in the season because they can’t be fished profitably,” LSU Department of Entomology Associate Professor Blake Wilson said.
Read MoreRockefeller Wildlife Refuge’s annual controlled harvest is underway this week.
Four hunters will be tasked to hunt 1,000 gators in seven days.
Because of the harvest, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will close the refuge until noon each day. After noon, the public will be allowed to enter the refuge and utilize recreational areas until official sunset.
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