In April 2023, the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation expanding private molluscan shellfish leasing in the state and designating certain public areas as state-owned reefs. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 2544, states that MDMR may designate no more than 20% of the area available for leasing as state-owned reefs.
Louisiana Court Must Decide: Save the Sea Turtles or Save the Shrimping Industry
November 4th, 2021 — by Caroline Heavey — Category: Seafood
To promote sea turtle conservation, on December 20, 2019, the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) promulgated a rule requiring Turtle Excluder Devices (“TEDs”) on skimmer trawl vessels greater than forty feet in length operating in inshore waters (“the Final Rule”).
On November 26, 2020, the European Union approved a deal with the United States that eliminates tariffs on all U.S. lobsters for the next five years, with the possibility of permanent elimination in the future.
October is National Seafood month. Wild-caught and farmed seafood is an important industry in the United States. To help protect the seafood industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established the Seafood Trade Relief Program.
On August 11, 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a long-awaited announcement that certain aquaculture producers are eligible for financial assistance under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Although the program was originally launched by the USDA in April to provide assistance to agricultural producers impacted by the economic effects of COVID-19, the agency’s decision to include aquaculture came after a public comment period in June that gave producers and industry the opportunity to submit data demonstrating that various aquaculture commodities meet the criteria for CFAP eligibility.
Recently, two seafood processors have been charged with mislabeling hundreds of thousands of pounds of Atlantic blue crab. The individuals caught in the fraud cite a sharp decline of Atlantic blue crab harvests beginning in 2010 for their decision to label crabmeat from Asia and South America as “Product of USA.”
