Last fall, Don Benoit had been making plans to hire 80 seasonal migrant laborers to work at his crawfish processing plant during the upcoming spring season, and he was applying for guest-worker visas just like he had for the last eight years. But the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history would soon throw his plans — and his business — into disarray.
Read MoreStrong winds are raising concerns that an oil leak about 20 miles from Port Fourchon could spread and impact the commercial seafood industry, according to oyster farmers in Terrebonne Parish.
Read MoreCongressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) released the following statement on efforts to address workforce challenges facing Louisiana’s crawfish industry.
“Many of Louisiana’s crawfish processors are facing significant workforce shortages due to complications involving legal immigrant temporary employee visas. Historically, seasonal workers and the visa system that allows them to be legally employed in America is fraught with controversy and bureaucratic uncertainty.”
Read MoreCrawfish processors across Louisiana say a shortage of temporary work visas has left them without the migrant labor they depend on, forcing plants to sit idle during the busiest part of the season, and threatening a key part of Louisiana’s $640 million crawfish industry.
Read MoreThe trade and immigration policies of the Trump administration have rippled through the nation’s economy in myriad ways, and Louisiana has not been immune to their effects. In recent months, we’ve catalogued the ways tariffs have affected our ports, our retailers and even our coffee shops.
Read MoreThe commissioner of agriculture and forestry is sounding the alarm over the lack of crawfish peelers in the state. Mike Strain says this is because the Department of Homeland Security has stopped processing H-2B applications for skilled guest workers, preventing them from coming back.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the Trump administration is working to ease labor restrictions for Louisiana farmers, particularly those in the aquaculture industry, as planting season begins amid rising diesel prices and ongoing visa limitations.
Read MoreTwo crawfish farm workers could have to pay $15,000 after authorities said they shot and killed an endangered whooping crane.
Read MoreThe crawfish industry is facing a labor shortage due to federal immigration caps as the state enters the start of the harvesting season, Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain said in a House committee meeting on Tuesday.
Read MorePhillip Dyson once tried working a job that wasn’t shrimping. He lasted three days on an oil rig before going right back to his boat.
Read MoreLouisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says that only a quarter of crawfish processors have been able to bring in the guest workers that they rely on.
Read MoreAlong Louisiana’s coast, the menhaden industry has quietly powered local economies for generations – providing industrial jobs, rebuilding communities after disasters, and allowing families to stay rooted in rural coastal parishes. The small, silvery fish harvested in the Gulf are processed into high-protein fish meal and nutrient-rich oil used in aquaculture, pet food, agriculture, and other essential products. In Plaquemines Parish, that work supports families, schools, and small businesses.
Read MoreCrawfish season has everyone getting their hands dirty, including advanced medical robots.
Dr. Justin Rudd, a General Surgeon at CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles, wanted to see whether their da Vinci 5 robotic surgical system (dV5) was as precise as they thought.
In true Louisiana fashion, he and his crew put it to the test by using it to peel a crawfish.
Read MoreLouisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says the state’s crawfish industry is dealing with a significant labor shortage. Strain told state lawmakers that crawfish processing plants do not have enough workers to peel and package crawfish, because the federal government has put a cap on foreign guest workers.
Read MoreCrawfish season is underway across Acadiana and local crawfish farmer Jude Mequet says early signs point to a steady and promising stretch for farmers and customers alike. He notes that warmer temperatures have played a key role in jump starting production sooner than expected.
Read More
