Seafood Smoking Topic of Workshop

Twenty-five commercial fishermen, processors, foodies and seafood nerds learned about the science and art of seafood smoking and by-product recovery on April 17 at the Seafood Processing Demonstration Lab in Jeanerette.

Hosting the event were Louisiana Sea Grant (LSG) and LSU AgCenter seafood specialist Evelyn Watts and LSG/AgCenter marine extension agent Thomas Hymel. Participants learned about ground seafood, mixing and blending seafood, separating meat from bone or shell that would otherwise be considered waste, making seafood sausage and, of course, smoking seafood.

The workshop was an opportunity for those in the seafood industry to reimagine how to use undervalued fish species, learn about alternatives for product development and address food safety concerns.

The Seafood Demonstration Lab, operated by LSG and the AgCenter, opened in 2022 and is the first of its kind along the Gulf coast. The mission of the lab is to introduce local fishermen to commercializing their product in a cost-effective and regulation compliant manner, ultimately bringing them more revenue.

To learn more about the facility, Hymel can be reached at [email protected]. Watts can be reached at [email protected].