ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 105
BY REPRESENTATIVE GAROFALO AND SENATORS ABRAHAM, ALLAIN,
BARROW, BOUDREAUX, BOUIE, CARTER, CATHEY, CLOUD, CONNICK,
CORTEZ, FESI, JACKSON, LAMBERT, MCMATH, MILLIGAN, FRED MILLS,
ROBERT MILLS, MIZELL, POPE, PRICE, REESE, SMITH, TARVER, AND
WOMACK
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and
Drug Administration to expand testing of imported shrimp products and increase
public awareness of health risks associated with imported shrimp.
WHEREAS, the harvesting of shrimp has been part of the cultural heritage of
Louisiana since the nineteenth century; and
WHEREAS, according to a recent report by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
the Louisiana seafood industry produces an economic impact of over $2.4 billion annually
for the state; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana shrimp fishery is the largest commercial fishery in the
state by economic value and the second largest commercial fishery by volume of landings;
and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's shrimp landings account for more than forty percent of all
warmwater shrimp landed in the United States in 2022; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana wild-caught shrimp fishery is losing domestic market
share to an inferior, pond-raised, imported shrimp, which results in lower dockside prices
for Louisiana fishers; and
WHEREAS, approximately ninety-four percent of seafood sold in the United States
is imported and shrimp account for the highest percent of all seafood imports; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), imported shrimp products have risen from less than two hundred fifty million
pounds in 1980, to nearly two billion pounds in 2022; and
Page 1 of 2 HCR NO. 105 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, according to statistics from the United States Census Bureau and the
NOAA, the price per pound for imported shrimp, adjusted for inflation, has decreased from
nearly ten dollars in 1980, to just over four dollars in 2022, while the Gulf dockside value
has declined from nearly five dollars in 1980, to approximately two dollars and fifty cents
in 2022; and
WHEREAS, current food safety regulations and inspections are failing to prevent
risks to human safety and, according to a report published in Environmental Science and
Technology, only two percent of all seafood imported into the United States is tested for
contamination, whereas the European Union inspects fifty percent, Japan inspects eighteen
percent, and Canada inspects fifteen percent.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and Drug
Administration to expand the testing of imported shrimp products for banned drugs, bacteria,
and disease and to increase public awareness to the possible health risks associated with
imported shrimp.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
the United States Congress to support legislation requiring the labeling of all shrimp sold at
restaurants to be labeled with their country of origin and to take such actions as are necessary
to hold foreign fisheries to the same standards as domestic fisheries and reduce the volume
of shrimp products imported into the United States.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States
Congress and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Page 2 of 2