Innovation in the Bayou Region: AmeriPure and Edison Chouset Drive Coastal Innovation in Louisiana

AmeriPure Processing Company, Franklin

Seafood Purification Reimagined at AmeriPure

When a health scare threatened the Gulf Coast oyster market in the early 1990s, government regulations ratcheted up and public confidence in oyster consumption eroded, threatening to unravel the regional seafood industry.

In response, fourth-generation Louisiana oyster grower John Tesvich and his managing partner Pat Fahey launched AmeriPure Processing Company. They created a unique pasteurization process to eliminate dangerous bacteria while leaving the raw oysters intact in their shells.

AmeriPure Processing Company created a unique pasteurization process to eliminate bacteria in oysters.

The success of this innovative process answered consumer and restaurant concerns about the safety of raw oysters. Demand for the coastal delicacy revived.

The twofold challenge came from Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, naturally occurring bacteria found in clean estuarine waters worldwide. Working with LSU’s Food Science Department, the company developed The AmeriPure Process® and eliminated the contaminants.

The AmeriPure Process combines a warm water bath to kill the bacteria, followed by an ice-cold bath to stop the transfer of heat. All the while, oysters remain closed and sealed in their natural liquor. There are no filtering, purification, high pressurization or chemical processes involved, and the oysters remain raw and are shucked fresh.

Sophistication Meets Success

The process was so effective that in 1997, the State of Louisiana dropped its mandatory retail warning sign requirement for establishments that exclusively served AmeriPure-treated raw oysters. Additionally, in 2003, the State of California decided AmeriPure's products were exempted from its seasonal prohibition on the sale and distribution of Gulf of Mexico raw oysters.

AmeriPure pioneered the process for the oyster industry. In time, other companies would come forward with different pasteurization methods, but AmeriPure continues to set a high standard for the finest oyster quality and the best service for customers.

“At the time we developed the process, I think the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) was surprised at the level of sophistication we showed here in Louisiana,” Fahey says. “This innovation has allowed us to develop a niche while opening up markets for us that would not have existed. It’s also spurred some of our colleagues to enhance the safety of their products, which benefits the state and ultimately the end-user who enjoys spectacularly delicious Louisiana oysters.”

This innovation has allowed us to develop a niche while opening up markets for us that would not have existed.

Pat Fahey//AmeriPure Processing Company

Edison Chouest Offshore, Cut Off

Edison Chouest Dives Deep with Subsea Tech

The C-Innovation ROV delivers precise operation and monitoring during subsea operations.

In the early days of offshore oil exploration, commercial divers worked at depths of 500 to 800 feet to assemble the machinery that would extract crude oil from far below the seafloor.

Deepwater exploration took a big turn in the early 2000s as larger finds came at extreme depths. Working in water as deep as 10,000 feet called for an entirely different type of equipment.

To meet the increasing demand for technologically advanced subsea operations, Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore companies — the most diverse and dynamic marine transportation company in the world — created C-Innovation in 2007.

C-Innovation offers a range of innovative, remotely operated vehicles, and serves a global customer base. The company provides a variety of services, including subsea construction, field development, engineering and project management.

C-Innovation has a fleet of ROVs and works with

such as Shell, ExxonMobil and BP.

Satellite Technology on the Seafloor

About the size of an SUV, the subsea remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, is connected to a control system on the surface by a two-inch, steel-armored cable that houses smaller electric and fiber-optic wiring. The technology delivers precise operations and remote monitoring for real-time onshore observation of ROV diagnostics and streaming video during subsea operations.

Using satellite technology, each ROV system is in constant communication with a central operations center, providing clients an enhanced level of communication and advanced project awareness. C-Innovation has a fleet of ROVs and works with energy leaders such as Shell, ExxonMobil and BP.

“We are essentially installing chemical plants just like you’d find on the surface, but we’re doing it on the seafloor at a mile-and-a-half straight down,” C-Innovation Subsea Manager David Sheetz says. “And in most cases, we have to meet the same standards of accuracy to ensure quality construction and safety.”