Catch As Catch Can What’s further eating at Barisich and other shrimpers is the availability of shrimp at a time when they have nowhere to land their catch, no way to keep it from spoiling and no real market for their seafood. “Those that are going fishing are finding shrimp and catching them fast,” said Barisich. “But seafood could be six foot deep in the Gulf, but if I can’t move it, it’s no use.” Where Barisich ties up his boat, they are still lacking the necessary infrastructure. Of all the seven operating shrimp docks before the hurricane only one is working. Only three of the seven oyster docks, two out of six crab docks and one icehouse are back in operation. Shortage of ice has increased the price to $15/block—going rate was $8/block before the hurricanes. The lone remaining icehouse is trucking in ice, storing it on top of a reefer and allocating ice quotas to boats. The process of hauling, chopping and dumping leads to about 10% loss of the ice, taking a bite out of an already small quota, particularly for Barisich’s 50-foot shrimp boat. On top of the lack of facilities, wild shrimpers who have returned to fishing since the hurricanes are being priced out of the market, thanks to the glut of “cheap, imported, farmed and pumped-full-of-toxins shrimp,” said Captain Charles Robin III, a fifth generation shrimper from St. Bernard Parish. Robin has been fishing on the F/V Ellie Margaret, a 35-year-old boat he helped his father build when Robin was only 11 years old. His family lost their home during Katrina and spent a few months on the Scotia Prince after the hurricane. They rode out the hurricane on the Ellie Margaret and after the storm cleared, housed other stranded families on the boat with them till rescuers arrived. “Imports are putting me out of business. With the flood of farmed shrimp, prices for our wild shrimp right now are 30 years old, but the price of fuel is 10 times higher,” said Robin. “They [processors] are flooding the market and controlling the price. They claim [farmed shrimp] is cheaper, but what they are really doing is putting us out of business and onto unemployment lines.” Barisich and Robin traveled to DC in April to lobby Congress for relief funds and encourage the Bush administration to stop their support of farmed shrimp imports into the U.S. “About 12% of shrimp boats are back to work,” said Barisich. “But thanks to the cheap imported shrimp, they are getting $10,000 for their catch when they should be getting $18,000.” With his permit to sell to individuals, Barisich can get up to $4 a pound for his large [10/15] shrimp. However, selling to processors who’ve gotten a taste of the farmed shrimp prices means getting 80 cents per pound for 60/70 [small] shrimp and $1.40 for larger ones. Politics Of Rebuilding In the aftermath of the tsunami, political agendas—once effectively fought back by fishing communities—began to resurface, this time in the name of “rebuilding.” Coastal development projects, water privatization, expansion of industrial aquaculture and introduction of shore-based infrastructure suited for an industrial fleet are among projects surfacing in many tsunami-stricken countries. In the post-hurricane season, proponents of privatization plans are using the hurricanes to promote their agenda of instituting Individual Transferable/Fishing Quota (ITQ/IFQs) for Gulf of Mexico fisheries. Waterfront acquisition and development is another concern in the post-hurricane Gulf of Mexico. According to Barisich, those with money are buying up destroyed and abandoned waterfront property. “The waterfront was getting mixed already, but those who were moving in didn’t want to get rid of the fishermen,” said Barisich. “But those buying property now don’t want a small [expletive] house next to their big houses. They don’t want a fishy smell or a bunch of crab traps around.” Sending Out An S.O.S. Feeling abandoned by Congress, Gulf fishing communities know that to survive they have to take matters into their own hands. “These are drastic times. We are meeting with others now because we can’t get any help from the government,” said Barisich. “The President promised he’d help us when he came to visit, but it was wishful thinking on our part that something would happen.” To donate funds and/or working marine equipment, please contact: Captain George Barisich United Commercial Fishermen’s Association 940 Stanford Avenue, Apt 405 Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Telephone: 225-769-4059 Email: nonetsnoseafood@aol.com |
