Coast Guard response crews assessed fishing boats lodged against a destroyed structure and sunken fishing vessels in the bayou Sept. 6, 2021, following Hurricane Ida in Southeast Louisiana. Coast Guard photo. One of every 70 jobs in Louisiana is in seafood. Many of those in them are still struggling a year after Ida by Roby Chavez, Communities Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour out of New Orleans. @RobyChavez_504 LAFITTE, La. – On the banks of Bayou Barataria, a pelican glides over the top of the brackish water, which is so calm you can hear waves lapping against the shore. Stacks of c ..read more

  COVID-19 had a significant impact on the lobster industry. The virus caused a sharp decrease in lobster demand, resulting in higher prices and fewer jobs. Lobster fisherman near Acadia National Park in Maine.  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editors Note: Since 2020 COVID-19 has significantly impacted the entire U.S seafood industry.  In the Gulf of Mexico oyster, shrimp and finfish fishermen were just a few of the hardest hit.  In Maine, the lobster fishery suffered a similar fate.  It is important to realize Gulf fishermen are not alone in their struggles to re ..read more

  COVID-19 had a significant impact on the lobster industry. The virus caused a sharp decrease in lobster demand, resulting in higher prices and fewer jobs. Lobster fisherman near Acadia National Park in Maine.  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editors Note: Since 2020 COVID-19 has significantly impacted the entire U.S seafood industry.  In the Gulf of Mexico oyster, shrimp and finfish fishermen were just a few of the hardest hit.  In Maine, the lobster fishery suffered a similar fate.  It is important to realize Gulf fishermen are not alone in their struggles to re ..read more

Harlon Pearce, owner of Harlon’s LA Fish in New Orleans and chair of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition, says that Louisiana is unique because of its working waterfronts. “Working waterfronts are very important for this country to maintain. Without them we lose our seafood industry.”  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor Hurricane Ida, and three others in two years, has thrown the Gulf seafood industry into turmoil.  Add to that Covid, unprecedented fuel prices, new state and federal fishing regulations, inflation and a tight labor ..read more

Congressmen Garret Graves of Louisiana and Jerry Carl of Alabama recently sent a letter to Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, requesting the department once again purchase Gulf shrimp. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News U.S. Congressmen Garret Graves of Louisiana and Jerry Carl of Alabama recently sent a letter to Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, requesting the department once again purchase Gulf shrimp under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act to be donated to schools, the underprivileged and disaster relief groups. Rep Garret Graves d ..read more

by Springfield Lewis/Gulf Seafood News Louisiana is an economic ecosystem of wetlands, waterways and generations that work them. A place where the livelihoods of commercial fishermen, seafood processors and restaurateurs all intertwine. Linking them all—from Lake Pontchartrain to the Atchafalaya Basin to the Gulf Coast—is a life source. “Everything is tied to the water,” said Tracy Kuhns, President of the GO FISH Coalition, formed after the BP oil spill in 2010 as an advocate for commercial fishing. “It’s  just part of your everyday life. The way you live.” Industry Advocates These ..read more

Fifty-five years and more than a dozen hurricanes later, Jean Lafitte shrimp dock owner Randy Nunez has had enough. Nunez on his dock during the BP Oil Spill. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor Fifty-five years and more than a dozen hurricanes later, Jean Lafitte shrimp dock owner Randy Nunez has had enough.  Hurricane Ida dealt the deathblow to a dock where as a kid he would work with his father and listen to tales told by shrimpers as he unloaded their boats. “It was total devastation,” Nunez described his first sighting of the business after Hurri ..read more

Gulf Crown Seafood’s Jeff Floyd (l) and son Jon agree that every year in the seafood business is unique. Each year new problems arise and are added to the same old ones continuously sticking around.  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor Gulf Crown Seafood’s Jeff Floyd and his son Jon agree that every year in the seafood business is unique. Each year new problems arise and are added to the same old ones continuously sticking around.  Last year new problems arising from Covid and Hurricane Ida were added to the old ones; H2B visiting worker visa, lab ..read more

Gulf Crown Seafood’s Jeff Floyd (l) and son Jon agree that every year in the seafood business is unique. Each year new problems arise and are added to the same old ones continuously sticking around.  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor Gulf Crown Seafood’s Jeff Floyd and his son Jon agree that every year in the seafood business is unique. Each year new problems arise and are added to the same old ones continuously sticking around.  Last year new problems arising from Covid and Hurricane Ida were added to the old ones; H2B visiting worker visa, lab ..read more

“Hurricane Ida devastated us,” said oysterman Mark Naquin. “We evacuated before it struck.  When I came back I could have cried.  It was horrible. All my docks were almost gone and two boats were sunk.”  Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor Before Hurricane Ida, Montegut oysterman Mark Naquin admits the last couple of year’s production on his leases was slow.  He had hope 2021 would be better. Recent plantings showed baby oysters everywhere. Then the storm undid his hard work leaving his business in shambles. “Hurricane Ida ..read more