CRCL celebrates legislation to protect Louisiana’s seafood industry

Measure will help consumers as well as the people and communities that feed our state

JULY 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is celebrating newly passed legislation that toughens the state’s seafood labeling laws, hailing it as an important step in supporting the local seafood industry. Act 148 was signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry on May 22.  

For years, the industry has struggled with the collapse of retail and wholesale prices, largely because foreign-raised farmed shrimp and crawfish have flooded the market at rock-bottom prices. This legislation institutes stiffer penalties for the use of misleading marketing of foreign shrimp and crawfish. The law also prohibits use of misleading packaging by seafood wholesalers and retailers – such as using Cajun names or imagery for products that are not from Louisiana.  

“CRCL is proud to support the world-class Louisiana seafood industry, which is facing incredible pressure despite selling a premium product that is far superior to imported seafood,” said Kim Reyher, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “This is a good first step toward leveling the playing field and ensuring the industry can thrive.”  

About 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands in Louisiana have vanished in less than a century. This crisis is threatening individuals and communities along the coast. It is also threatening one of the most productive fisheries in the world. Louisiana is the No. 1 producer of oysters, shrimp and crawfish in the United States.  

CRCL, a longtime supporter of Louisiana fisheries, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite people in action to achieve a thriving, sustainable Louisiana coast for all. The organization has recycled more than 14 million pounds of shell through its Oyster Shell Recycling Program, keeping the resource out of landfills and using it instead to build reefs that create habitat for new oysters and that slow the rate of land loss. CRCL is planning to expand shell recycling from the New Orleans area to Baton Rouge later this year.  

The organization supported legislation passed in 2023 that created a tax credit for restaurants that recycle their shell. More than 30 restaurants participate in the program in New Orleans. In September, CRCL will work with volunteers and the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe to build a reef using recycled oysters at Grand Bayou Indian Village in Plaquemines Parish.  

This spring, in an effort to support the fishing industry and Louisiana restaurants, CRCL helped develop the Louisiana Seafood Passport, a program that directs people to 45 restaurants that specialize in fresh, sustainable Gulf seafood. The passport program launched in June with the Eat Local Bike Tour. Stops include several Oyster Shell Recycling Program restaurants.  

To learn more about CRCL, visit the organization’s website.  

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The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite people in action to achieve a thriving, sustainable Louisiana coast for all.