Just steps away from the Gulf, a community whose identity is rooted in the shrimp industry, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, held over Labor Day 2024, was found to be serving mostly imported, farm-raised shrimp. Out of the five vendors sampled, only one, Woodreaux’s Cajun Cuisine, was serving authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp.
However, this year was a different story. SeaD Consulting returned to the festival with its patented RIGHTTest to randomly sample another round of vendors. In a turnaround from the previous year, all seven vendors were confirmed to be serving local, wild-caught shrimp as advertised.
The festival had implemented new vendor rules requiring all food sellers to serve local wild-caught shrimp. The Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival’s accountability measures mirror similar successes at other events, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where SeaD testing in 2024 found that all but one vendor sampled were serving authentic Gulf shrimp. At the newly launched Louisiana Shrimp Festival in New Orleans, held for the first time in 2024, RIGHTTesting confirmed 100 percent compliance with its Gulf-only shrimp rules.
“Consumers deserve honesty, and shrimping communities deserve fairness,” said Dave Williams, CEO of SeaD. “Thanks to the leadership of festivals like the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, Jazz Fest, and the Louisiana Shrimp Festival in New Orleans, and the support of our funders, we’re seeing real change that helps both diners and the men and women who make their living on the water.”
For Morgan City, that change has been personal. Local shrimper Kermit Duck reflected on the transformation sparked by one phone call, “I never thought that one call to SeaD Consulting last year could make such a change. I am now proud of the festival that finally represents Louisiana shrimpers. Without the exposure in the press last year, visitors to the festival would likely still be served imported shrimp. Buy local, buy wild all-natural seafood and support the coastal community!”
Vendors Verified for Serving Gulf Shrimp
The following seven vendors at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival were confirmed to be serving authentic Gulf shrimp:
- Bon Creole Seafoods
- Kat Daddys Catering
- Southern Concessions
- Morgan Tin Tin
- Wooddreaux’s Cajun Cuisine
- Kajun Seafood Shack
SeaD Consulting’s ongoing work, supported by the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force and the Southern Shrimp Alliance, continues to bring accountability to restaurants and high-profile festivals across the Gulf. The partnership is making measurable strides toward ensuring that when consumers order Gulf shrimp, they get exactly what they expect.
To read more about the past updates in Corpus Christi, Houma, Slidell, and Mobile, click here.
