BATON ROUGE, LA – U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is purchasing up to $25 million of Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Wild-Caught Shrimp. This will help provide relief to Louisiana's shrimp industry which has faced several hardships in a row: Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters, repeated openings of the… Read more »
BATON ROUGE, LA – U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) released the following statement in response to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Secretary Jack Montoucet signing again a declaration to re-open the recreational red snapper season on Friday, October 7 through Friday, October 14 and increasing the bag limit to four fish per person, per day.… Read more »
BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana's shrimpers and crawfishers are struggling to stay afloat amidst record high energy costs, inflation, a crumbling supply chain, workforce shortages, and the disaster recovery process. U.S. Congressman Garret Graves is putting pressure on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase Louisiana shrimp and crawfish for its food aid programs.… Read more »
Nearly 40 Members of Congress from across the southeastern United States have asked U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gina Raimondo to direct the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to allow better science and improved access to red snapper fishing opportunities.
The letter expresses strong concerns from dozens of Members of Congress that NMFS is attempting to use flawed… Read more »
U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) attempted to add amendments to the U.S. House government funding bill in an effort to create accountability and improve the bill. Graves' amendments would have ensured Louisiana's disaster recovery, flood insurance and other priorities were addressed.Graves introduced the below amendments: An amendment that would have required the FEMA… Read more »
U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) introduced bipartisan legislation that would direct the United States Postal Service to issue a "Combating Invasive Species Semipostal Stamp." The net proceeds from the sale of this stamp would be directed to the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of the Interior for programs that combat invasive… Read more »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $4,229,669 will be made available in grants for Louisiana's seafood processors. Louisiana received the second-highest amount of the $50 million allotments. This funding is linked to COVID and the pandemic's impact on the impacted fishing industry. For example, because of the shutdown of restaurants and lowered capacities in businesses,… Read more »
Nearly $100 million has been approved for habitat restoration projects in Louisiana after bipartisan legislation U.S. Congressman Garret Graves crafted was signed into law recently. This funding will provide $85.8 million for new restoration projects and an additional $13 million to develop new coastal solutions. The legislation also funded the Coastwide Nutria Control Program (CNCP),… Read more »
U.S. Congressman Garret Graves is pushing U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gina Raimondo to expedite "Fishery Disaster Determination" due to major damage related to impacts of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and especially Ida. Graves' ask comes after a recent economic assessment verifies what we have been saying about the impact to our fishing communities. He is also working to… Read more »
Legislation that would ban the use of traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System and other areas is being considered in the U.S. House, and Congressman Garret Graves is working to prevent the legislation from harming our nutria eradication efforts.In Louisiana, this bill would make our National Wildlife Refuges a safe harbor for this invasive species and set back the progress we've made… Read more »
