Louisiana HCR 105: SEAFOOD: Urges and requests the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and Drug Administration to expand testing of imported shrimp

Bill Text

HLS 23RS-2804 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 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 RESOLUTION
2 To 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
6 Louisiana since the nineteenth century; and
7 WHEREAS, according to a recent report by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
8 the Louisiana seafood industry produces an economic impact of over $2.4 billion annually
9 for the state; and
10 WHEREAS, the Louisiana shrimp fishery is the largest commercial fishery in the
11 state by economic value and the second largest commercial fishery by volume of landings;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, Louisiana's shrimp landings account for more than forty percent of all
14 warmwater shrimp landed in the United States in 2022; and
15 WHEREAS, the Louisiana wild-caught shrimp fishery is losing domestic market
16 share to an inferior, pond-raised, imported shrimp, which results in lower dockside prices
17 for Louisiana fishers; and
18 WHEREAS, approximately ninety-four percent of seafood sold in the United States
19 is imported and shrimp account for the highest percent of all seafood imports; and
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HLS 23RS-2804 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 105
1 WHEREAS, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
2 (NOAA), imported shrimp products have risen from less than two hundred fifty million
3 pounds in 1980, to nearly two billion pounds in 2022; and
4 WHEREAS, according to statistics from the United States Census Bureau and the
5 NOAA, the price per pound for imported shrimp, adjusted for inflation, has decreased from
6 nearly ten dollars in 1980, to just over four dollars in 2022, while the Gulf dockside value
7 has declined from nearly five dollars in 1980, to approximately two dollars and fifty cents
8 in 2022; and
9 WHEREAS, current food safety regulations and inspections are failing to prevent
10 risks to human safety and, according to a report published in Environmental Science and
11 Technology, only two percent of all seafood imported into the United States is tested for
12 contamination, whereas the European Union inspects fifty percent, Japan inspects eighteen
13 percent, and Canada inspects fifteen percent.
14 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
15 urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and the United States Food and Drug
16 Administration to expand the testing of imported shrimp products for banned drugs, bacteria,
17 and disease and to increase public awareness to the possible health risks associated with
18 imported shrimp.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
20 the United States Congress to support legislation requiring the labeling of all shrimp sold at
21 restaurants to be labeled with their country of origin and to take such actions as are necessary
22 to hold foreign fisheries to the same standards as domestic fisheries and reduce the volume
23 of shrimp products imported into the United States.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
25 presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States
26 Congress and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
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HLS 23RS-2804 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 105
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 Original 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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