A Louisiana House committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require seafood sellers to clearly market whether the seafood is local or imported from other countries such as China, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, showed an image of a package of frozen crawfish sold at a local supermarket. Connick explained that the item named “Boudreaux’s Crawfish” was not from Louisiana but instead a product of China.
“They are using our label, our name, our image, our culture,” Connick said. “But it’s Chinese shrimp, Chinese crawfish.”
Nationally, 80% to 90% of seafood is imported, with half of that being farm-raised, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. Louisiana is the second-largest seafood producer in the U.S., behind only Alaska.
