A Historical Look at Alligator Meat Utilization in Louisiana - By Dr. Paul Coreil
This weeks Article is sponsored by Jonathan Gaspard Attorney at Law!
Louisiana alligators have held commercial value for over 150 years, primarily
because of their highly prized hides. Since the 1800s, alligator leather has been
sought after for manufacturing cowboy boots, belts, wallets, purses, briefcases, and
other luxury leather products. For generations, the skin—not the meat—was
considered the most valuable part of the animal.
Commercial harvesting of wild alligators remained largely unregulated until the
population began to decline dramatically during the 1950s. Recognizing the
seriousness of the situation, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission
closed the commercial alligator season in 1962. The harvest remained closed for
the next ten years to allow populations to recover after decades of overharvest.
The conservation effort proved remarkably successful. In 1972, the Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) reopened a limited hunting season
in Cameron Parish, followed by expansion into Vermilion and Calcasieu Parishes
in 1973. By 1979, while I was serving as an LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea
Grant Extension Agent in Cameron Parish, the season expanded into nine
additional coastal parishes before opening statewide in 1981.
Today, Louisiana's alligator management program is recognized as one of the
world's greatest wildlife conservation success stories. Thanks to science-based
harvest regulations and continued habitat protection, Louisiana now supports an
estimated two million wild alligators, along with another one million alligators
raised on more than 50 commercial farms.
Since regulated harvesting resumed in 1972, more than 1.2 million wild alligators
have been harvested, with an average annual harvest approaching 30,000 animals.
In addition, Louisiana's commercial alligator farms now harvest more than 300,000
farm-raised alligators each year, creating a multi-million-dollar industry that
contributes significantly to the state's economy.
Although alligator leather remained the industry's primary source of revenue
through the 1970s and 1980s, a major challenge quickly became apparent as
harvest numbers increased. The meat from harvested wild alligators was largely
discarded because there was virtually no established commercial market. Few
restaurants served alligator meat, seafood wholesalers had little interest in
purchasing it, and consumers had limited experience eating it.
Many of us believed this represented a tremendous missed economic opportunity.
If a commercial market for alligator meat could be developed, it would
dramatically increase the value of each harvested animal while reducing waste.
With support from the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Sea Grant Program, I had
the privilege of participating in one of the first baseline studies designed to
evaluate the boneless meat yield from wild alligators harvested in Cameron Parish.
This research became an important first step in determining how much marketable
meat Louisiana's annual harvest could potentially produce if consumer demand
could be developed.
For the study, we transported live alligators of various sizes from Cameron Parish
to LSU's meat processing laboratory in Baton Rouge. Each alligator was skinned,
deboned, and carefully processed so we could accurately measure boneless meat
yields from different-sized animals. The data were later published to provide the
industry with realistic production estimates and to encourage greater utilization of
alligator meat.
A Bridge Crossing I'll Never Forget
One unforgettable experience occurred during one of those trips to Baton Rouge.
When transporting live alligators in the bed of a pickup truck, large rubber bands
are placed around their jaws, their legs are securely restrained, and burlap sacks are
tied over their heads to help keep them calm during transport.
While driving across the new Mississippi River Bridge toward the LSU campus, I
glanced in my rearview mirror and was horrified to see one particularly large
alligator had somehow worked itself loose and was slowly climbing over the
truck's tailgate.
I immediately slowed down, but before I could safely pull over, the inevitable
happened…the alligator slipped over the tailgate and landed in the middle of
oncoming traffic on the Mississippi River Bridge.
Needless to say, panic quickly set in.
I immediately turned around and headed back to retrieve the escaped passenger.
Fortunately, traffic was light, and every approaching vehicle managed to avoid
hitting the alligator. Looking back, I wish I could have seen the expressions on the
faces of those motorists as they watched a large alligator—wearing nothing but a
burlap sack over its head—slide into their lane!
When I reached the scene, I found the alligator completely unharmed. We safely
re-secured it in the truck and continued our trip to Baton Rouge, where it
ultimately became part of the meat yield study.
Potential disaster avoided—thank God!
Creating a Market for Alligator Meat
Research alone would not create demand. We knew that consumers first had to
discover that alligator meat was both delicious and versatile.
Our next challenge was encouraging chefs and restaurants across Louisiana to
develop appealing alligator recipes and introduce them to the public. Given
Louisiana's thriving tourism industry, we believed visitors would be eager to
experience another authentic taste of Louisiana by trying this unique and exotic
meat.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, we organized a statewide alligator meat promotion
and cooking tour, partnering with chefs who were willing to experiment with
alligator recipes and feature them on their menus. The response exceeded our
expectations.
Restaurant owners discovered that customers enjoyed alligator meat, tourists
actively sought it out, and demand steadily increased. Before long, alligator dishes
began appearing on seafood restaurant menus throughout Louisiana, creating a
commercial market that had previously not existed.
Another major boost came decades later when the History Channel launched the
television series Swamp People in 2010, starring Troy and Jacob Landry. The
show's enormous popularity introduced millions of viewers to Louisiana's unique
culture of harvesting wild alligators in the state's marshes and swamps. It also
sparked increased tourism and inspired countless visitors to sample alligator dishes
while traveling throughout Louisiana.
Today, although worldwide demand for alligator leather—particularly from wild
alligators—has softened from its peak during the 1980s, demand for alligator meat
continues to grow across the United States.
In fact, according to LDWF, the value of wild alligator meat has exceeded the
value of wild alligator skins for the past decade. That represents a remarkable shift
from the industry's early years and demonstrates just how important meat
utilization has become to the economic sustainability of Louisiana's wild alligator
harvest.
Looking back, it is gratifying to know that early efforts to identify, research, and
promote an underutilized natural resource helped lay the foundation for what has
become one of Louisiana's most successful natural resource-based industries. I feel
extremely fortunate to have played a small part in that history through my
Extension and research work in Cameron Parish during the 1980s.
Until next time,
Paul Coreil
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