A reality television show personality made a visit to local restaurant D&M Seafood.

However, this visit was not his first to Picayune. “Swamp People” star Jacob Landry said he has been delivering crawfish to Picayune seafood businesses for the past 15 to 20 years, including the old Shrimp Shack and the previous owners of what is now D&M Seafood.

However this time was a bit different. Instead of just dropping off a shipment of fresh seafood caught in Louisiana swamps and heading back to work, he stayed to greet many adoring fans. He also took time to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Landry said with his busy schedule, making the visit during the weekend was not possible, but he thought the turnout on Wednesday was good. Landry and his father also deliver seafood to businesses in the greater New Orleans area, Mandeville, Covington and Gulfport among other locations.

Landry and his father, Troy Landry, have been on the show Swamp Hunters since the first season. Jacob said the History Channel first approached his dad to inquire about filming a documentary on alligator hunting.

“They said they wanted to go out in the water for a day or two and get some footage,” Jacob Landry said.

At first the offer was declined, but a declining economy leading to falling alligator prices prompted reconsideration of the offer since the History Channel offered compensation, Jacob Landry said. There are only 30 days in alligator season. That gives hunters a tight window to use the tags they purchase from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Jacob Landry thought product of filming would only result in a single documentary DVD or maybe a single pilot episode that they could show to family and friends. He was concerned viewers may be turned off to the blood and guts involved in alligator hunting. But after the first episode aired and earned the History Channel some of their highest ratings, more than 4 million viewers, it led to a full first and subsequent follow-up seasons. The show is now in its fourth season.

During the first two years of the show having a film crew following along for the ride did not slow the Landry’s hunting trips down. They could easily work 200 to 300 lines a day. However, now camera crews request duplication of efforts to get the perfect shot for the show, which at times can slow the hunting crew down to 100 lines a day.