Adversity is no stranger to Harlon Pearce, the Gulf Seafood Institute’s chairman. As the former chairman of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board he successfully navigated disaster after disaster, including the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
Editors Note:
This is the first in a series of profiles on board members of the Gulf Seafood Institute.
by Springfield Lewis/Newsroom Ink
Two years ago Harlon Pearce wasn’t exactly sure what Hurricane Isaac would bring. But he was ready.
Harlon Pearce adressses a meeting of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force in 2011. Photo: Louisiana Seafood News
Adversity is no stranger to the Gulf Seafood Institute’s chairman. As the former chairman of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board he successfully navigated disaster after disaster for the state’s 12,000 commercial fisherman, seafood processors and the Louisiana Seafood Brand. He has been a powerful force in unifying the diverse interests of Louisiana’s commercial fisheries and ensuring their future prospects in the marketplace.
“Out of adversity always comes opportunity,” said Pearce. “And we’ve had more opportunities in the last several years than many will see in a lifetime. I’m not sure how we could have been more prepared for Isaac.”
His response to Isaac – as well as to other adversities he has faced during his long seafood career– has always been to keep business moving “at the speed of seafood” for all who depend on this mainstay Gulf industry.
Taking Care of Business
As chairman of the Seafood Board, Pearce was instrumental in putting into place a crisis communications plan for the state’s seafood industry after Hurricane Katrina devastated the industry.
“No one was prepared for Katrina,” explained the New Orleans bred fishmonger who owns Harlon’s LA Fish & Seafood, a fish-processing and distribution company he’s operated for some 20 years within a mile of the Mississippi River. “Not the state government or the federal government. We had over 3,000 fishing vessels washed up on land, and three of the largest fishing docks in the U.S. were completely destroyed.”
The Louisiana native has worked tirelessly in the position as co-chair of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition since Hurricane Katrina, securing aide and funding for restoration of the seafood industry, and its fishermen, in the state of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
“Louisiana fishermen have faced adversity after adversity,” he explained. “Within the past 10 years we have faced Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike and Isaac. Then came the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an incident that taught us that Gulf waters do not stop at state lines.”
According to Pearce, as the Deepwater Horizon rig fell beneath the Gulf’s waves, the seafood board was calling national, state and local officials, as well as keeping the press informed on the impact the tragedy could have on the seafood industry.
Pearce owns Harlon’s LA Fish & Seafood, a fish-processing and distribution company he’s operated for some 20 years within a mile of the Mississippi River. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
“One lesson we learned from each crisis is no organization representing a part of the Gulf’s delicate infrastructure can stand alone,” said Pearce, a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana College and Loyola School of Law. “The mission of the Gulf Seafood Institute is to protect the Gulf’s unique culture while elevating the Gulf Seafood brand with consumers, customers and policy leaders through advocacy, education and science. We want every organization having an interest in the Gulf to have a seat at our table. We might not all agree on everything, but together we can find common ground to better this vital seafood resource.”
An Advocate for Others
Pearce has been a powerful force in unifying the diverse interests of the Gulf’s commercial and recreational fisheries and ensuring their future prospects.
“Our goal is twofold. The first is to help fishermen, processors and distributors maintain their markets. And second, make sure consumers and restaurants know they can always depend on the Gulf for the quality seafood they love – no matter what storm blows through,” he said.
Florida GSI Board member David Krebs (left) talks with Pearce during a Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in San Antonio. Pearce is a Louisiana designee on the Gulf Council. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
That’s a message he continues to take to the meeting halls and boardrooms of countless businesses, colleges and government agencies not only across the Gulf, but also around the world.
“GSI has three driving responsibilities as its core functions – advocacy education and science. We are already advocating in Washington for the entire Gulf seafood community,” he explained. “We are working on educational projects with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu for the shrimping community, and developing a Gulf-wide recreational data and management process. GSI is alive and well and moving very quickly to accomplish its core missions.”
Pearce serves on the executive committee of the Gulf Coast Marketing Coalition, the acting Chair of the Friends of the Fishermen’s Foundation, a trustee for the Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation as well as a Louisiana designee on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
Each year he joins a Gulf wide seafood delegation in Washington D.C. to meet with congressional leaders. The group discusses important legislation affecting various Gulf seafood industries, as well as industry future needs.
Pearce has been instrumental in bringing congressional staffers from five Gulf States to see first hand various Gulf seafood industries. He sees staffers as the backbone of the legislative process, doing the important groundwork needed to write effective legislation. He feels their trip to processors, fishermen and the waters of the Gulf should result “in a much clearer understanding of our needs, especially after a hurricane.”
Bringing more than 40 years of grit and passion to an area that produces a third of the domestic seafood for the continental United States, he believes by giving every business with an interest in the Gulf a voice, common ground can be found to benefit not only the seafood industry, but also the Gulf as a whole.
“BP received a lot of criticism from the tragic event in the Gulf, even from me. I have to say when it was time to step up to the plate, BP was there with the funding needed to bring Gulf seafood back onto tables across America,” he said.
“Without the $30 million in BP funding to overcome of the negative perception of Gulf seafood to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, and additional funding for other Gulf seafood organizations; chefs, restaurants and their customers would not be serving and enjoying Gulf seafood today. The company began the healing process, now we must all come together to ensure the future of the Gulf and its seafood. Thank you BP.”
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