Published: March 26, 2026
By: Sheridan White, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE — A proposal from Rep. Timothy Kerner, R-Lafitte, aims to close the long-standing gap in Louisiana’s seafood labeling laws, building on years of legislative efforts to protect one of the state’s signature industries.
House Bill 857, which advanced without opposition in the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, addresses the issue of commingling, the mixing of domestic and imported seafood products in a way that makes it difficult to verify the food’s origin.
The bill would introduce penalties for such practices, which regulators say have been difficult to police under current law.
According to Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain, the challenge lies in jurisdiction.
“If it were a state product, we could go in and inspect it,” Strain said at a hearing Wednesday. “If it were an imported product, we are somewhat prohibited under federal law.”
Read more at Daily Advertiser.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 
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