Congressman Garret Graves announces federal help for an ailing Louisiana shrimping industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase up to $25-million in wild-caught shrimp; a deal he worked to secure with Alabama Congressman Jerry Carl. Graves says shrimpers have had to cope with natural disasters, inflation, rising fuel costs and a market glutted with imports from Asia.
“…all sorts of impacts, so we’re trying to throw them some of these lifelines; really just to help keep that industry afloat,” Graves says.
The money will go to purchase shrimp from wholesalers and directly from shrimpers, letting the money flow more directly to those who need it. Once purchased, the product will be sent to numerous school lunch programs, food banks and others…so the shrimp won’t go to waste. Graves says this is help for shrimpers right now, and not intended as a permanent fix for any of the larger issues causing problems for Gulf Coast shrimpers…
“We’re not trying to put all our eggs into one basket. We’re coming in, we’re doing this. We’re providing direct fisheries disaster assistance.”
Graves says unfair trade practices make unregulated (and sometime un-inspected) foreign seafood more attractive to many buyers, which hurts domestic production. He says he and colleagues in congress will work to rectify that…
“We have a superior product, and I’m confident that our Louisiana shrimpers can compete and win if given a level playing field.”
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