HLS 23RS-2804 ENGROSSED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 105
BY REPRESENTATIVE GAROFALO
SEAFOOD: Urges and requests the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States
Food and Drug Administration to expand testing of imported shrimp
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and
3 Drug Administration to expand testing of imported shrimp products and increase
4 public awareness of health risks associated with imported shrimp.
5 WHEREAS, the harvesting of shrimp has been part of the cultural heritage of
6Louisiana since the nineteenth century; and
7 WHEREAS, according to a recent report by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
8the Louisiana seafood industry produces an economic impact of over $2.4 billion annually
9for the state; and
10 WHEREAS, the Louisiana shrimp fishery is the largest commercial fishery in the
11state by economic value and the second largest commercial fishery by volume of landings;
12and
13 WHEREAS, Louisiana's shrimp landings account for more than forty percent of all
14warmwater shrimp landed in the United States in 2022; and
15 WHEREAS, the Louisiana wild-caught shrimp fishery is losing domestic market
16share to an inferior, pond-raised, imported shrimp, which results in lower dockside prices
17for Louisiana fishers; and
18 WHEREAS, approximately ninety-four percent of seafood sold in the United States
19is imported and shrimp account for the highest percent of all seafood imports; and
20 WHEREAS, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
21(NOAA), imported shrimp products have risen from less than two hundred fifty million
22pounds in 1980, to nearly two billion pounds in 2022; and
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HCR NO. 105
1 WHEREAS, according to statistics from the United States Census Bureau and the
2NOAA, the price per pound for imported shrimp, adjusted for inflation, has decreased from
3nearly ten dollars in 1980, to just over four dollars in 2022, while the Gulf dockside value
4has declined from nearly five dollars in 1980, to approximately two dollars and fifty cents
5in 2022; and
6 WHEREAS, current food safety regulations and inspections are failing to prevent
7risks to human safety and, according to a report published in Environmental Science and
8Technology, only two percent of all seafood imported into the United States is tested for
9contamination, whereas the European Union inspects fifty percent, Japan inspects eighteen
10percent, and Canada inspects fifteen percent.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
12urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and Drug
13Administration to expand the testing of imported shrimp products for banned drugs, bacteria,
14and disease and to increase public awareness to the possible health risks associated with
15imported shrimp.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
17the United States Congress to support legislation requiring the labeling of all shrimp sold at
18restaurants to be labeled with their country of origin and to take such actions as are necessary
19to hold foreign fisheries to the same standards as domestic fisheries and reduce the volume
20of shrimp products imported into the United States.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States
23Congress and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 105 Engrossed 2023 Regular Session Garofalo
Urges and requests the La. Dept. of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to
expand testing of imported shrimp products and to increase public awareness of health risks
associated with imported shrimp. Additionally, urges Congress to support legislation for
country-of-origin labeling, to hold foreign and domestic fisheries to the same standards, and
to reduce shrimp product imports.
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