From boats named Lil Man, Slow Ride, Miss Brittany G and the T-Turbo tied to the docks at the Port of Delcambre, consumers can purchase fresh Vermilion Parish white shrimp directly from the fishers who caught it earlier that day. It is one of many similar programs throughout the state — often called sea-to-plate, or boat-to-fork — in which the digital arena is bridging the gap between Gulf of Mexico waters and the dining table.
The Lafourche-Terrebonne Direct Seafood program, referred to as LaTer Direct Seafood, officially launched this weekend so locals and visitors there can find, and buy, fresh seafood “down the bayou" directly from the fishers as they come into the dock. The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant developed the Louisiana Direct Seafood programs, funded by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, to help buoy fishers' income and create more one-on-one interactions between the public and the people who work everyday in local fisheries, an industry whose profit margins continue to dwindle as cheap imports flood the market and rising gasoline and equipment prices add to overhead.
Emphasizing freshness and quality
Efforts to differentiate local seafood have increased in recent years, in part spurred by BP oil spill money along with renewed efforts by the state to promote Gulf seafood and combat perception problems following the spill. The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and others also are working to rebrand Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana seafood as more of a premium commodity.
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