Rouses Debuts Local, Sustainable Seafood Line

THIBODAUX, La. — This week, Rouses Markets launched a line of sustainable, local Gulf Coast fish it can call its own.

The seasonal fish — drum, sheepshead and flounder — will be sold under Rouses’ brand, making it a signature line of wild caught, flash frozen fish that puts Rouses at the forefront of a national movement to promote local, seasonal, sustainable food, officials said. The new line has been rolled out to all 38 of Rouses’ stores.

"Season, fishing restrictions and weather affect what local fish we offer," Donny Rouse, managing partner of his family’s company, said in a press release. "We carry flash-frozen Atlantic and Pacific fish filets, so the thought was, why not create our own local brand that satisfies our local tastes?"

Rouses Markets collaborated with local seafood producers and packagers to develop the flash-frozen products — thus, creating local jobs as well as enabling Rouses’ customers to enjoy local, seasonal fish year-round.

"The fish are harvested exclusively for Rouses, and personally inspected by our team," Rouse said. "Every piece is hand-trimmed and filleted by local fish-cutters, vacuum-packed and flash-frozen so it stays at the peak of flavor."

Rouses has long been known for its local seafood. "Our name is synonymous with seafood," said Rouse. "We sell more than 2 million pounds of wild-caught Louisiana shrimp every year — and that’s just shrimp. We sell more Louisiana shrimp, crawfish, crabs, oysters and Gulf fish than anyone else in Louisiana or Mississippi."