Legislator blasts seafood marketing board

Louisiana’s legislative auditor is examining the board in command of spending $30 million in BP-appropriated funds to promote and market Louisiana’s seafood, the auditor’s office confirmed Monday.

Months after the deadly Macondo well blowout and oil spill, which prompted the closure of about 57 percent of Louisiana’s fishing areas at the spill’s peak, BP announced it would allocate the sum over three years to help restore the image of Gulf seafood.

The 16-member Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, comprised entirely of governors’ appointees who represent various sectors of the industry, was tasked with managing the money.

State Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) told the Tri-Parish Times he requested the audit because the board would not divulge reports that gauge effectiveness of its seafood-promotional strategies.

“These guys are given $30 million and don’t have a clue nor do they have the experience to deal with this,” he said. “They’re just throwing money away.”

Taking it a step further, Harrison blasted the board’s decision to repeatedly send three chefs, hired with a “tremendous amount of money,” across the United States to promote the area’s seafood and “hand out their cards to their restaurants” without proving its effectiveness.

“[The board is] absolutely doing nothing for our seafood industry people, and I told [Executive Director Ewell Smith] to give me the demographics and the results and accountability of what they’re doing with the money, and they weren’t doing that,” Harrison said. “So I called for an audit.”

Thomas Cole, an assistant legislative auditor and director of financial audit services with the state, said he could not confirm that Harrison requested the audit, citing ethical and professional standards.

Cole said it is “primarily a financial audit” that started in the summer as part of a regular rotation of state board examinations.

He said that allegations and a board’s material importance, both in figures and in processes, can push a state agency to the top of the auditor’s list.

Cole would not disclose whether or not the state will investigate the depth of market research and strategic accountability as implemented by the seafood promotional board. “We have a number of objectives within those audits,” he said. “I cannot speak to any specific audit in that regard.”

District 51, Harrison’s seat, includes all of coastal Terrebonne Parish, home to many commercial fishermen. Harrison is a House advisor to the seafood promotional board and sits on the Natural Resources and Environment committee.

Smith, the promotional board’s executive director, said he was aware of the audit, but did not know who requested it. He added that the board has and will continue to cooperate with the examiners.

“We opened up the entire process, probably more open than any auditor has ever had,” Smith said. “We opened the doors wide open for that person, explained to that person our processes, what we’ve been through, how we’re moving forward and how we’re establishing absolute transparency and accountable processes,” Smith said.

Smith said the auditor’s office has been invited to attend the board’s next meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 7 at the UNO Advanced Technology Center in New Orleans.

The seafood promotional board held its second industry summit last week in Houma.

Smith said he could not give specifics on how the board is measuring the campaign because so much time was devoted to contracting three marketing firms out of 35 that applied through the bid process. About 1,400 stakeholders from across the state, including Harrison, were invited to attend the summit, which aimed to be a discussion of future marketing strategies.

“We unveiled the campaign yesterday for what we’re doing moving forward, which really kicks off in January, so I don’t know where he’s coming from,” Smith said. “The whole purpose of the summit was to educate our industry leaders in fisheries, our legislators and our tourism officials, who we partner with. We wanted a dialogue from them, and if they were there, they had that opportunity.”

Harrison was not in attendance at the summit because he was attending a Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority meeting in Baton Rouge, he said.

Vicki Larke, Harrison’s legislative assistant, was in attendance, Harrison said.

There is particular consternation between the board’s executive director and the state legislator over a business arrangement.

Harrison is involved with a Thibodaux start-up company that is trying to fund the production of consumer-interactive advertising screens that would be placed around the state.

The board was given a range of packages that would allow it to sponsor the manufacturing of the screens, which are similar to giant iPads. The most costly offer was worth $1.9 million, both sides agreed.

In return, the seafood board would have a premium advertisement on every screen, with the capability to track user demographics, establish a revenue stream and distribute several smaller ad spaces to retailers at no cost, with the condition they serve Louisiana seafood, Harrison said.

Utilizing the budding advertising medium would fall under the seafood promotional board’s mission of promoting the area’s seafood while also establishing high-tech manufacturing jobs in the bayou region, the legislator said.

Smith said last week the board declined the sponsorship opportunity after “we vetted it through both of our agencies and discussed it with our marketing committee.” Smith said the proposal was not “the right fit,” and called the technology “old.”

Smith said the sponsorship offer was treated like any other proposed business arrangement. He conceded that he had not viewed the screens first hand, but said a board lobbyist and industry representative did sample the product and were not enthusiastic about a deal.

Smith went on to say he was “appalled” that Harrison spoke to the media.

He accused the legislator of leveraging his political power for business purposes, saying Harrison is trying to overwhelm the board into striking a deal with the company.

“I think he’s using the media to come after us because we didn’t buy a product from someone in his district,” Smith said.

“He has harassed us, coerced us and beaten me up because of this, and he’s called you. I’m appalled by this, to be honest. This is politics of yesterday.”

Although federal testing of the Gulf seafood shows hydrocarbon levels below harmful thresholds, chunks of the national public that watched the spill unfold through media outlets remain wary of the seafood.

The BP money was set aside to ease their qualms through promoting the safety of the product and encouraging people to purchase, eat and sell Louisiana seafood.

As of Aug. 31, the seafood promotion board had authorized about $1.2 million in expenses, according to a report provided by the board. Of the expenditures, $360,000, or 29.9 percent, has been spent on the three marketing firms the board hired.

Harrison said a joint legislative effort is under way to introduce a bill next year that would revamp the board’s spending processes.

“The legislative auditor’s office is going in there, and we’re going to review this thing, and I’ll take whatever action is necessary to deal with it,” Harrison said.

Mark Hunter with The Food Group explains the significance of branding to participants at the Louisiana Seafood Summit in Houma. MIKE NIXON