Archive for February, 2022
The National Seafood Council Task Force has released a report highlighting pathways to funding for a National Seafood Marketing Campaign and governing structure considerations for the National Seafood Council.
Sitting on Bayou Rigaud in Grand Isle at the southernmost end of LA 1, the docks at Blanchard Seafood plant are about as close to the Gulf of Mexico as possible without getting wet. When Hurricane Ida struck the island that all changed.
As the Krewe of Atlas arrived at the Family Gras Music Festival in Metairie on a February Friday night, famed singer Marie Osmond, best known for the Donnie singing with her brother Donnie on the Donnie and Marie show on ABC in the 1970’s, waited to perform. As several New Orleans artists played the greatest hits of local music icon Allen Toussaint, Osmond knew where she would be after the show… at Drago’s Restaurant eating some of it famed Gulf seafood.
Approximately $50 million in grants to support seafood processors, processing facilities and processing vessels through the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program (SPRS) will come from the The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This funding is linked to COVID and the pandemic’s impact on the fishing industry.Louisiana Seafood Processors are slated to receive $4.2 million of the available funds.
The cold north wind blew through the open Oak Ridge Community Park shelter in Golden Meadow like an express train passing a through a station. A sweater-clad chef stirred a huge pot of gumbo, while others wearing red aprons with the familiar Shell logo served fried catfish and French fries. At a table at the end, King Cakes anchored a paper tablecloth whipping in the constant breeze. But it was the smiles of the fishermen filling their plates that would be most remembered by the volunteers from across Louisiana
LSU Sea Grant, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and members of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition have crafted a five-page “white paper” on the extreme damage and loss of revenue to the Louisiana seafood industry as a result of four hurricanes during the years of 2020-21. All five sectors of the industry have suffered; commercial fishermen, recreation fishing, docks, processors and marinas.
Needs Assessment for the 2020 and 2021 Hurricanes. White Paper: Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition.
A recently released report detailing infrastructure, revenue and resource loss to Louisiana Fisheries have prompted a Louisiana Congressmen to ask the Department of Commerce (DOC) to expedite a Fishery Disaster Determination due to major damage related to impacts of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and especially Ida.
The plight of the Louisiana fishermen from the four hurricanes over the past two years is starting to get national attention. A February 1st article in the New York Times deals with the plight of the industry since Hurricane Ida, and the effect it is having on the region’s rich culture of food and fishing.
The recently released Infrastructure, Revenue and Resource Losses to Louisiana Fisheries From the Hurricanes of 2020 and 2021 report is historic. “This gives us a golden opportunity to correct a problem that’s longstanding, how the marine industry, particularly the seafood industry is treated in disasters,” said Dr. David Veal, director of the American Shrimp Processors Association.
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