ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 113
BY REPRESENTATIVES SCHEXNAYDER, ADAMS, AMEDEE, BACALA, BAGLEY,
BEAULLIEU, BISHOP, BOURRIAQUE, BRASS, BROWN, BUTLER, CARRIER,
WILFORD CARTER, CORMIER, COUSSAN, DAVIS, DESHOTEL, DEVILLIER,
EDMONDS, EDMONSTON, EMERSON, FARNUM, FIRMENT, FRIEMAN,
GADBERRY, GAROFALO, GEYMANN, GLOVER, GOUDEAU, HODGES,
HORTON, HUGHES, IVEY, JEFFERSON, JENKINS, MIKE JOHNSON,
JORDAN, KERNER, LACOMBE, LANDRY, LARVADAIN, LYONS, MACK,
MAGEE, MARCELLE, MARINO, MCFARLAND, MCKNIGHT, MCMAHEN,
MIGUEZ, GREGORY MILLER, MINCEY, MOORE, MUSCARELLO, CHARLES
OWEN, ROBERT OWEN, PHELPS, PIERRE, PRESSLY, RISER, ROMERO,
SCHAMERHORN, SCHLEGEL, SELDERS, ST. BLANC, STAGNI, STEFANSKI,
THOMAS, THOMPSON, TURNER, WHEAT, WHITE, WRIGHT, AND
ZERINGUE AND SENATORS LAMBERT AND FRED MILLS
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to ban the
import of shrimp and crawfish from outside the United States.
WHEREAS, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in
2019 the United States imported six billion pounds of edible seafood products, including one
and one half billion pounds of shrimp, an increase of nearly six and one half million pounds
more than the shrimp imported in 2018; and
WHEREAS, the 2019 shrimp imports alone, valued at six billion dollars, accounted
for twenty-seven percent of the total value of imported seafood that year, which reached
twenty-two billion dollars; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that over half of the imported seafood consumed in the
United States is from aquaculture, or seafood farming, rather than wild-caught; and
WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible
for the safety of all fish and fishery products entering the United States and sold in
Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, in 2011 the FDA was only inspecting two percent of the seafood
imported into the United States, the last year for which data regarding the percentage of
imports inspected is available; and
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WHEREAS, because imported seafood is not held to the same standards as domestic
seafood, domestic fishing industries are put at a distinct and significant disadvantage
commercially; and
WHEREAS, because labor costs are much lower overseas, peeled crawfish meat is
much cheaper when imported, resulting in many entities purchasing from other countries
instead of supporting the local market; and
WHEREAS, seafood imported from overseas is not always safe to consume; and
WHEREAS, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the
average value of Louisiana shrimp fell from three dollars and eighty cents per pound in 1980
to one dollar fifty cents per pound in 2017; and
WHEREAS, unfair competition allows foreign competitors to flood the United States
market with seafood harvested under intensive farming practices, while devastating local
industries and coastal communities built around them; and
WHEREAS, domestically produced shrimp and crawfish offer the best option for the
health and safety of United States consumers.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to ban the
import of shrimp and crawfish from outside 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 Congress of the
United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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