In Lafitte, folks are usually upbeat and busy in May as shrimpers get back to work in Louisiana’s rich waters. But this spring, catches are down, docks are idle, and anxiety is growing that the ill effects of the massive BP oil spill may be far from over. An Associated Press examination of last year’s commercial catch and harvest data along the Gulf—the first full year of fishing since the 2010 spill—reveals merit in the fishermen’s complaints. According to the analysis of figures obtained through public records requests, seafood crops hit rock bottom in the Barataria estuary, the same place where some of the thickest waves of oil washed in when a BP well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Detailed data from “trip tickets” fishermen fill out when they unload at docks reveal steep drops in Barataria, though it’s far from bleak everywhere along the Gulf Coast. Fishermen are making money that is about equal to before the spill, according to the 2011 data not officially released yet by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Part of the reason is that, though the fishermen aren’t hauling in as much, prices are up, so people are paying more for seafood from the Gulf than from other sources. In Barataria, the number of shrimpers in the water has remained steady, yet the fall season was off by about 7 million pounds from an average of 18.1 million pounds between 2006 and 2009. “I’m afraid that oil spill has ruined us,” says Ken Lee, a shrimp dock owner. “We’re hardly unloading any brown shrimp at all.” Get the full story from The Associated Press here.
Today’s poll question: Are you eating less Louisiana and Gulf Coast seafood this year than you were before the 2010 BP oil spill?
