Fishermen
Since 2020 COVID-19 has significantly impacted the entire U.S seafood industry. In the Gulf of Mexico oyster, shrimp and finfish fishermen were just a few of the hardest hit. In Maine, the lobster fishery suffered a similar fate. It is important to realize Gulf fishermen are not alone in their struggles to recover.
Standing on the porch of the tribal community center six months after Hurricane Ida pummeled his community, Donald Dardar still chokes-up as he remembers seeing the remains of his village for the first time. The area, home to a fishing community of more than 800 Point-au-Chien Native Americans, endured some of the hurricane’s worst destruction leaving in its path unanswered questions on whether to rebuild in an area that is ground zero for the climate crisis.
A silent and deadly cancer is spreading throughout the bayous and rivers of Louisiana; as well as Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri all the way to Illinois, Minnesota and the gates of the Great Lakes. Asian carp has overtaken the Mississippi River System threatening the ecosystem, as well as multi-million dollar recreational and commercial fishing industries.
The cold north wind blew through the open Oak Ridge Community Park shelter in Golden Meadow like an express train passing a through a station. A sweater-clad chef stirred a huge pot of gumbo, while others wearing red aprons with the familiar Shell logo served fried catfish and French fries. At a table at the end, King Cakes anchored a paper tablecloth whipping in the constant breeze. But it was the smiles of the fishermen filling their plates that would be most remembered by the volunteers from across Louisiana
A recently released report detailing infrastructure, revenue and resource loss to Louisiana Fisheries have prompted a Louisiana Congressmen to ask the Department of Commerce (DOC) to expedite a Fishery Disaster Determination due to major damage related to impacts of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and especially Ida.
For more than six hours fifth-generation Houma oysterman Jacob David Hulse, his girlfriend Lindsey Willis and his dog Change huddled in an the oyster shop of friend Kenneth (Keno) Templet struggling to keep the walls and roof from caving as the more than 140-mph winds of Hurricane Ida continuously battered away at the structure. When the winds started to subside, Hulse thought he had gone through the worse of it. Like many Louisiana fishermen are finding out, his troubles were only beginning after the storm was finished.
For every hurricane during the past 40-years Preston Dore has rode out the storms at the Delcambre docks on his shrimp boat. After Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and a host of others, both he and the boat have walked away mostly unscathed. Hurricane Ida was different. The storm has cost him his boat, his livelihood and has stripped away his dignity as a provider for his family.
Hurricane Ida struck the heart of Louisiana’s seafood industry as a Category 4 hurricane, wiping out homes, boats, trucks, plants and icehouses. Oyster farmers on Grand Isle lost their entire crop, processing plants from Grand Isle to Dulac lay in ruin and almost 30% of the shrimping fleet in Golden Meadow lay useless at the start of current shrimp season. “If the Louisiana seafood industry is to have any life at all in the near future,” said Gulf Seafood Foundation board member Ewell Smith, “it is all about ice.”
The destructive winds and storm surge of Hurricane Laura are now unwanted memories. Repairing shattered homes, businesses and lives along the storms path in southwestern Louisiana remain the task at hand. To easy the pain fishermen are reaching out to help fishermen. A truckload of supplies donated by the North Carolina Fisheries Association and True North Seafood has reached Louisiana and being readied to help those in need.
Gulf Fishing Family Hurting After Hurricane Laura Destroys Cameron, Wrecks Havoc on Surrounding Area
The Gulf fishing fleet docked at or near Cameron, LA bore the brunt of Hurricane Laura as it roared ashore in the early hours of August 27th as a category four storm. The Gulf Seafood Foundation is calling upon government officials in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi for an immediate coordinated seafood specific disaster relief effort for fishermen, seafood processors and the extended seafood family.
Former commercial fisherman Robert Fritchey documents landmark disputes between the recreational and commercial fishing industries. His latest book, A Different Breed of Cat, chronicles the battles over the use of fishing nets during the 1990’s in Alabama, where the state’s resource-management agency brokered a compromise that was hailed as the beginning of a “new age” in managing the state’s coastal fisheries.
Hurricanes, droughts, flooding and oil spills, the Louisiana Oyster Task Force had thought they had seen it all. The norvell coronavirus that is sweeping through the state, the nation and the world is just one more obstacle to overcome and according to Task Force chairman Mitch Jurisich there is little doubt they will. Jurisich discusses the importance of Gulf oysters to the environment, culture and heritage of Louisiana.
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