Line Dance Classes (Thibodaux)
November 7, 2011
Christine Crochet Daigle
November 9, 2011
The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board will conduct its second seafood summit in Houma Nov. 16 and wants fishermen, processors, retailers and tourism representatives to attend the unveiling of a marketing campaign designed to restore consumer confidence in Gulf products.
“Attendees will be treated to delicious dishes, industry education and topics ranging from the state of Louisiana fisheries and consumer perception of our seafood to the state of tourism and seafood’s economic impact,” Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board spokeswoman Krystal Cox said in a printed statement.
The summit will also include three breakout sessions that will focus on commercial fisheries, seafood processing and economic development. “Further information will be distributed once details are finalized,” Cox said.
“I’m glad it is coming to Houma,” Motivatit Seafood CEO Mike Voisin said. “It was in New Orleans last year.”
Voisin is a seventh generation member of the oyster industry and said that his business has suffered in part because of fresh water used to fight off oil deposits from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 and flooding from the Mississippi River in May and June.
“There are continual challenges,” Voisin said. “[The Seafood Summit] will bring leaders together to identify and educate about the challenges, and set directions on how to solve them.”
Gulf Fish Inc. General Manager Danny Babin called the summit a good first step in helping an industry that has been hurting. “I think the Seafood Promotion Board is trying to do a good job,” he said. “We are in a transition period right now with the money the Seafood Promotion Board has gotten from BP. I think what they are doing is trying new things.”
Gaining ideas from fishermen, processors and merchants is essential for the LSPMB to address the needs of a state that leads the Gulf Coast region in both shrimp and oyster production.
Shrimp catches in Louisiana alone decrease by nearly 10 percent between the months of January and April 2007 and the same period in 2011.
“I think [conducting summits] is a good first step,” Babin said. “Is it the answer for the seafood industry? I’m really not sure, but I think this is the first step. What kind of results are they going to get? The story is still out on that one.”
“There is the ongoing marketing challenge of seafood and tourism,” Voisin said.
“Both of those got a black eye in Louisiana. That is the biggest challenge we face, how to rebuild our markets.”
“[The LSPMB does] a lot of things with chefs, but that’s not the bulk of our business,” Babin said. “The bulk of our business is the wholesale end with the distributing. They haven’t gotten to that step yet.”
The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board was established following the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil release as an effort to head off rumors and concerns about the quality of seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico.
There is no cost to attend the Seafood Summit, but seating is limited to the first 100 people that register by email to kcox@wlf.la.gov.
Even with a decline harvest, shrimp processing continues at Gulf Fish Inc., in Houma. Processors and fishermen hope to gain tips to boost business during the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board Seafood Summit scheduled for Nov. 16. MIKE NIXON
