Mississippi DMR schedules public meetings, outreach ahead of seafood-labeling law

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources on June 17 outlined in-agency outreach and public meetings to help seafood businesses comply with the state seafood-labeling law set to take effect July 1.

Charmaine (public affairs) told commissioners the agency will hold three in-person sessions in the commission room: Thursday, June 19 at 2 p.m., Thursday, June 26 at 9 a.m., and a Tuesday in July at 2 p.m. The sessions will explain labeling requirements and answer operator questions. "If you have a restaurant or if you have a seafood business or anything and you would like to know what the labeling rules are, you can come here and we will sit down and go over it," she said.

Agency staff said the law (House Bill 602) requires labeling on menu items and retail displays to indicate whether product is imported or domestic; mixed dishes such as gumbo may carry a combined statement indicating both foreign and domestic ingredients. The department has posted a consumer-facing seafood-labeling pop-up with a Q&A on the DMR website and will use media outreach to promote compliance.

Charmaine said the agency's approach will be educational early on: "It's just like a law enforcement of anything we do. It's just like speeding. We can't stop everybody from speeding, but we can tell them what the law is and what they're supposed to do." The department also plans social media posts and a press release to amplify the rules and the public meetings.

The sessions aim to help restaurants, markets and seafood markets that sell fish, shrimp, oysters or crab understand labeling obligations so consumers can distinguish domestic Gulf products from imports.