DELCAMBRE, La. (KLFY) – As Louisiana shrimpers continue to fight to keep the industry alive, one young crusader is working to bring change, and she’s succeeding.

Delcambre Shrimp Festival Queen Gracie Bourque hopes to help the Louisiana shrimping industry for years to come.

“I went shrimping with one of the shrimpers local to Delcambre and to see how hard they work it was truly eye-opening and amazing,” Bourque said.

Bourque fell in love with a way of life that day. One which she was willing to fight for.

“They are facing so many issues especially with imported shrimp,” she said.

She said the struggling industry is trying to find its way to the next generation.

“The shrimper that I met with, he has a son, and he doesn’t want his son to continue shrimping because they’re not making any money, because no one is buying their shrimp because of the imported shrimp coming in,” Bourque said.

State Rep. Jacob Landry (R-Erath) has helped draft a resolution in Bourque’s honor commending her for her hard work fighting for the shrimping industry.

“Myself and representative Mike Bayham (R-Chalmette) wanted to put together a house resolution commending Gracie for not only being Delcambre’s shrimp queen but also all the advocating and all the things she did for the shrimping industry,” Landry said.

“Imported shrimp comes in, and it overpowers the local shrimp. Gracie is trying to change that,” Landry adds. “Gracie has advocated for shop local, buy local.”

Bourque’s journey even took her to Washington D.C., where she met with the Louisiana congressional delegation. She has also fought for change on the state level.

Louisiana House Continuing Resolution 8 aims to make sure Congress is actively enforcing testing guidelines.

“Gracie came to the Capitol and testified on HCR8 to memorialize Congress to put stricter laws into actual testing on imported seafood,” Landry said. “Congress, ya’ll need to put more effort into the testing of foreign shrimp or seafood to make sure the quality is compatible to what we’re catching.”

Bourque said if the testing does get enforced, foreign seafood is no match for our local, gulf shrimp.

“It’s gonna destroy them before they even get on our tables,” she said. “So now we know we’re not eating good things for our bodies and by eating Louisiana shrimp you’re doing something so great for our environment and for your body too.”

Latest news