NEW ORLEANS ( WGNO ) — As 14 chefs compete in this year’s Great American Seafood Cook-Off, the American seafood industry as a whole is in its own competition against imported seafood from foreign countries.
Cheaper imported seafood is undercutting Louisiana fishermen.
“It’s just easier for them to just chose a big company where they can get it shipped to them very easily rather than going through and actually talking to the people and shaking hands and making sure you know where your stuff is coming from,” ‘Shaya’ & ‘Tavi’ Sous Chef Louis Kieffer said.
Continued efforts to clean up crude oil spilled into Bayou Lafourche
Louisiana lawmakers have recently passed a set of bills, one of which raises fees on imported seafood and another that requires restaurants to label if they are using imported seafood.
They say they hope these will encourage the public to buy more local.
“There were 2,300 violations for mislabeling seafood under the health department. Not one of those people got fined. We’re at least gonna be able to bring in some more money to help point out the differences in safety. These imports are sometimes unsafe. And hopefully, bring awareness to get more people to ask before they eat and demand more Louisiana seafood,” Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser said.