Not all jewels shine deep-green like emeralds or have the sparkle of diamonds. Some tumble from algae-coated cages in a rush of rock and shell, briny water splashing alongside them onto the boat deck.
These fine commodities are oysters, grown and harvested just off Louisiana’s coastline. Traditionally, they’ve been farmed on seafloor beds, but some producers are now cultivating oysters in a string of floating cages.
Read MoreTesting continues across the state to ensure that local restaurants advertising that they are serving authentic Gulf shrimp are doing so. But one Louisiana city just received some poor marks in a recent round of testing.
Read MoreWhile it’s the time of year when many crawfish lovers would mourn, as the season usually comes to an end, this year is different. After an epic season, a plentiful one that has been unusually extended, the season is still ongoing.
“We’ve had a record-breaking season this year,” stated Louisiana Crawfish Company, adding that record production has been achieved across the board. To add to the abundance, the company states that fishermen are reporting that weather conditions are pointing toward an extended season.
Read MoreAs crawfish season comes to a close across south Louisiana, farmers like Jonathan Fontenot in Evangeline Parish are already thinking about next year’s catch.
At least for K&K Ag Partnership where he works, Fontenot says the season has been a good one.
Read MoreSandy Nguyen has strong opinions about where the best shrimp in the US is produced.
A second-generation shrimper in New Orleans, Nguyen maintains “our [Louisiana] shrimp tastes better than Florida shrimp or Mississippi shrimp or Texas shrimp.”
Read MoreElizabeth Robinson enters a cool, damp room with fluorescent lights and dozens of large plastic bags holding liquid ranging from pastel yellow to dark rust.
It's not the typical image associated with Louisiana's oyster industry. But the lab and its process of growing algae play a key role in the nascent off-bottom oyster farming industry that's been expanding on and around Grand Isle over the past few years.
Read MoreCrawfish is a Louisiana staple. To find out why locals are so passionate about these little crustaceans, I stopped by the Third Annual City of Lights Crawfish Boil Cookoff in Natchitoches. What I discovered was more than just a love for the “mudbugs” it was a celebration of flavor, community, and tradition.
Read MoreMost of us like to know what we’re eating and where it came from, especially when it comes to shrimp. Louisiana law even requires that all restaurants proclaim if they use imported shrimp. However, a shrimp testing group visited several restaurants across the state and discovered that proximity doesn’t equal authenticity.
Read MoreThe Louisiana inland shrimp season has opened. Shrimpers’ spirits and catches are down as cheaper imported shrimp keep flowing into the country.
Those imported shrimp left domestic shrimpers hoping for tariffs. They got their wish in April — just before the inland shrimping season opened — when U.S. President Donald Trump placed tariffs on many foreign goods.
Read MoreA sweeping overhaul of Louisiana's seafood safety regulations is headed to the governor’s desk, following final legislative approval of a bill that transfers oversight responsibilities from the state’s tourism agency to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
House Bill 652, authored by Rep. Timothy Kerner, R-Lafitte, dissolves the current Seafood Safety Task Force under the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and reestablishes it within the Agriculture Department.
Read MoreNot all jewels have the deep green features of emeralds or sparkle of diamonds. Some tumble from algae-coated cages in a rush of rock and shell, briny water splashing alongside them onto the deck of a boat.
Read MoreA man from Echo was arrested after a local farmer reported crawfish thefts, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office.
RPSO received the first complaint from the Cheneyville/Echo area on April 26, stating multiple traps were emptied from the previous night and the suspect appeared to have used the farmer’s boat.
Read MoreThe Chinese Communist Party has allowed poisonous fentanyl to pour into the United States and encouraged Chinese businesses to lie, cheat and steal in American marketplaces.
Louisiana crawfish farmers, for example, have struggled to compete with Chinese producers that ignore the environmental and safety regulations that American producers must follow. Under President Biden, regulators only inspected 1% of all seafood imports. In turn, China could sell its crawfish—which are often loaded with unsafe levels of antibiotics—at a much cheaper price than the higher-quality American product.
Read MoreRepresentatives Mike Ezell (MS-04), Julia Letlow (LA-05), and Troy Carter (LA-02) today introduced the Safer Shrimp Imports Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at tightening federal inspection standards for imported shrimp and protecting American consumers and domestic seafood producers.
Imported shrimp accounts for roughly 90% of the shrimp consumed in the United States, much of which comes from countries with weak food safety standards and inadequate oversight of harmful contaminants such as antibiotics, pesticides, and bacteria.
On the heels of a historic trade win, a coalition representing four American food industries praised President Trump's "America First" leadership, while calling for targeted tariffs on imported honey, catfish, crawfish, and shrimp to counter years of predatory trade practices.
Read More
