Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins wants the Trump administration to come down on seafood imports with punitive tariffs. Officials say local seafood producers are hurting, and becoming more scarce.
"We've lost a great deal of our shrimp market," says Louisiana Ag commissioner Dr. Mike Strain.
Strain says seafood dumping by foreign competitors -- offering shrimp at prices below the operating costs of local producers -- has hurt the industry badly.
"We've lost a lot of our shrimpers. We've lost a lot of our shrimp boats. We've lost a lot of our entire industry simply because they cannot compete with those low-priced imports," said Strain. "We are trying to rebuild that both by advertising, 'buy fresh local Gulf-caught seafood, but we've had a significant loss."
Strain said there are fewer local shrimpers, and the congressman's request seeks to level the playing field.
