FROM THE CROWE’S NEST

Going Up

The effects of storms and the loss of life from them is nothing new to the commercial fishing industry. The difference being the number of boats, the number of people involved and the number of lives lost in any given circumstance. There is a long list of names and situations that come under the heading ‘Lost at Sea’.

Lost at sea tragedies are usually the result of being caught by an unexpected storm or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of these tragedies are the result of mitigating factors at sea where those involved had no control over the situation. At sea, you are truly at the mercy of Mother Nature. Given enough notice you may be able to outrun the storm, in other instances you are forced to ride it out. In any case most of the time you don’t have much of a warning.

Unlike being at sea where your choices are extremely limited, the choices of the victims of hurricane Katrina should have had plenty of time to prepare for the impending disaster. The federal agencies in charge (FEMA) were given plenty of warning that an impending disaster was about to strike. They chose to ignore the warnings, which resulted in catastrophic loss of life, limb and property. This is not the first disaster that the federal government has wreaked upon the commercial fishing industry, although it may very well be the worst.

The ineptitude, the inability to react and the long line of bad decisions from the federal government multiplied the damage sustained by Katrina one thousand fold. The federal emergency agencies were warned days in advance that this disaster was approaching. Nothing was done. The idiot in charge of FEMA had no qualifications to be in the position of authority that he held. This guy couldn’t even understand a weather report. He was an accident waiting to happen and unfortunately it happened.

He should be held personally responsible for the loss of life and the destruction of private property, namely the entire Gulf Coast fishing industry. To add insult to injury, he’s still getting paid. Your tax dollars hard at work.

Another factor that is causing major problems along the entire Gulf Coast is the pollution from the oil industry. Whose brilliant idea was it to allow oil refineries along the coast knowing the potential dangers? I’m sure it wasn’t the nearsighted bottom line of profit over safety that influenced that decision. If profit over safety was the deciding factor then they also should be held accountable for the damage caused by their shortsighted decision. Why should taxpayers be liable for a corporation’s bad judgment and shortsightedness?

I have not heard any response from the gas and oil industry saying that they would financially help with the disaster. The only response I’m hearing is the price of gas is going up.