States are increasingly looking to hook consumers by branding their local seafood specialties, both to help reel in revenue and to give a boost to commercial fishermen struggling with declining stocks and tighter regulations.
In Louisiana, officials are creating a top-of-the-catch program for shrimp and oysters. Rhode Island is distributing logo-emblazoned quahog carriers.
And in Massachusetts, where a carving of the state's "Sacred Cod" hangs in the House chambers, lawmakers are weighing whether to create a branding program that "embraces the historic roots of fishing in the commonwealth."
