Over the course of two years, four hurricanes have cost the Louisiana seafood industry almost a $580 million dollar loss to infrastructure, revenue and resources, according to a recently released report. . Photo: Gulf Seafood News
One of every 70 jobs in Louisiana is in seafood. Many of those in them are still struggling a year after Ida
by Roby Chavez, Communities Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour out of New Orleans. @RobyChavez_504
LAFITTE, La. – On the banks of Bayou Barataria, a pelican glides over the top of the brackish water, which is so calm you can hear waves lapping against the shore. Stacks of crab traps and fishing nets lay idle on the shoreline. Occasionally, there is the whir of a propeller, which barely registers above the sound of wildlife, puttering as it pushes a boat around debris on the bottom of the bayou.
Gone, for the most part, is the constant sound of diesel engines turning over and the salty language of the fishermen loading and unloading the catch of the day. Many of the docks, including the 200-foot dock that has been in Randy Nunez’s family for 71 years, won’t return.
“It looks like a ghost town. It’s hard to see. The bayous are empty. The boats are tied up. The shrimp prices are too low,” Nunez said as he sat on the side of the bayou near what used to be one of the largest docks in the area. “Before you’d see boats coming out and boats coming in. Boats were constantly passing on the bayou.”
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