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DONATE NOW!!! Hurricane Ida has left a path of destruction through Louisiana, and in that path was seafood community after seafood community. Donate to the Gulf Seafood Foundation’ “Helping Hands” for Hurricane Ida.
Louisiana oysterman Jakov Jurisic is no stranger to adversity. The Gulf oyster industry, along with other Gulf seafood, is in a historic nosedive never before seen. The perfect storm of too much water, a national pandemic and the closure of restaurant after restaurant have forced those in the industry to reexamine the path forward.
Gulf Fishing Family Hurting After Hurricane Laura Destroys Cameron, Wrecks Havoc on Surrounding Area
The Gulf fishing fleet docked at or near Cameron, LA bore the brunt of Hurricane Laura as it roared ashore in the early hours of August 27th as a category four storm. The Gulf Seafood Foundation is calling upon government officials in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi for an immediate coordinated seafood specific disaster relief effort for fishermen, seafood processors and the extended seafood family.
A recent executive order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth potentially broadens markets for the Gulf seafood industry, as well as stirred controversy within the its seafood community.
Aaron Welch, III, owner and operator of Two Docks Shellfish in Bradenton, FL, has agreed to join the Board of Directors of the Gulf Seafood Foundation. Welch joins Ed Chiles as the board’s second representative from the Sunshine State.
Can you imagine no oyster bars crowded with patrons eyeing shuckers opening one perfect Gulf oyster after another? No music crowds pressed shoulder to shoulder in Austin venues. No crowded Bourbon Street restaurants overflowing with locals and tourists. There is a new norm coming to the Gulf and the country, and life will be different.
Ryan Bradley, a fifth-generation fisherman who serves as executive director of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United and owner of Sea Alis Seafood Company, has joined the Board of Directors of the Gulf Seafood Foundation.
The Louisiana Oyster Task Force, through the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, has enlisted Ed Lallo and Newsroom Ink to assist in their ongoing effort to tell the story of the of the Louisiana Gulf oyster, the people dedicated to ensuring its sustainability, as well as its importance to the State’s economy, culture and culinary cuisine.
Braving freezing temperatures and cold northern winds whipping the Carolina coast, more than 250 members of the oyster aquaculture industry recently gathered for the fourth Oyster South Industry Symposium held in Wilmington to discuss industry issues and research.
Sitting on the frozen plains of North Dakota 50-miles from the Canadian boarder, Kerian Machines has been enlisted by Gulf fishermen to develop a new method to grade by size head-on shrimp while still on the boat. The new shrimp grader will allow fishermen to better compete with imports, putting the quality consumers demand ahead of price.
Prestige Oysters, one of the largest producers of Gulf oysters, has achieved the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for its private oyster fisheries in Texas and Louisiana, making it the first wild oyster fishery in the Americas to be recognized for sustainable fishing practices. Sustainable fishing practices are vital to the protection of both the environment and consumers of Gulf of Mexico seafood.
A comprehensive seafood supply chain study of Louisiana’s St. Mary, Iberia, and Vermilion Parishes highlights obstacles and opportunities for an area battered by an array of environmental disasters, economic losses and competition from imports. The study confirmed what the seafood industry in those parishes, as well as all along the entire Gulf coast, have speculated for years; without a unified voice and aligned economic development at all government levels, Gulf seafood is in trouble, big trouble.
Acadiana Rural Economic Development:Web_Final
The billion dollar question haunting the Gulf seafood industry, as well as fisheries across the U.S, is how domestic seafood can compete with imports when fish in the freezers or on the counters of almost every grocery store, and in the kitchen of almost every restaurant, comes from another country? Countries that often fail to impose any semblance of quality control or inspections.
BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards Joins Call for Seafood Disaster (via Washington Post)
Heeding the call of a seafood coalition led by the Gulf Seafood Foundation, Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United and Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is the first Gulf governor to petition the federal government to declare a Gulf fisheries disaster. Flood waters from the upper Mississippi River tributaries continue to gush into delicate saltwater estuaries vital to the lifespan of a wide variety of Gulf seafood and the livelihood of fishermen and seafood processors.
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