Louisiana Shrimp Association donates shrimp to food pantry

Posted: Apr 6, 2020 / 01:46 PM CDT / Updated: Apr 6, 2020 / 01:46 PM CDT

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA – AUGUST 27: Nearly 600 pounds of shrimp from Acy Cooper’s shrimp trawler are cleaned and weighed at a seafood dealer following a 12 hour plus overnight shift of shrimping on August 27, 2019 off the coast of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The Cooper family are four generations of fishermen and shrimping is their family tradition. With the Mississippi River at historically high water levels earlier this year due to severe flooding in the Midwest, the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in southern Louisiana has flooded the saltwater marshes with fresh water. The fresh water has driven crabs, shrimp and fish out of bays and marshes and out further to sea into saltier water where they can survive. According to a release from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the spring shrimp season catch was down over 60 percent compared to the five-year average putting a strain on the fishermen who make their livelihood on the water. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A food pantry in New Orleans has received nearly 2,500 pounds of shrimp to help families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Second Harvest Food Bank is the recipient of the donation, announced Friday by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. The donation, which will cover a few pounds each for families, was given by Ronnie Anderson and David and Kim Chauvin, owners of Bluewater Shrimp Company, based in Dulac, Louisiana.

Second Harvest supports more than 700 community partners and programs across 23 parishes, distributing more than 32 million meals to more than 210,000 people annually, according to its website.

Nungesser said he will encourage state government to also purchase all excess inventories of Louisiana shrimp to send to the Second Harvest Food Bank. That move, he said, follows his earlier request to Louisiana’s congressional delegation to include Louisiana Gulf Coast seafood products on a list of approved purchases for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Doing that, he said, will help the state’s seafood industry which produces $2.4 billion in product annually. One in every 70 jobs in the state is related to the seafood industry, he said.

By Associated Press