Local fishermen sit and wait for oil to stop spewing

With oil still spewing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and no end yet in sight, those involved in the fishing industry are beginning to be weary of the effects the spill may have on their businesses.

“This could be catastrophic for the whole Gulf Coast,” said Sutzie David with Bayou Express Seafood and Catering. “It could affect the fishermen, who to me are No. 1, the retailers, which would then affect our restaurants, which would then affect our tourism, which would hurt our charter trips and those people … This could become a major, major event.”

Terrebonne officials addressed the public and the media on Friday at the Government Towers in Houma.

Several dozen fishermen showed up to address their concerns and ask questions about how the spill will affect their industry.

One problem fishermen say they have had throughout the process is miscommunication.

In today’s Internet age, information is everywhere – some accurate, but some not.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries opened a special shrimping season last week to allow trawlers to get their share of catch before the oil could potentially reach the area.

But 33-year Dulac fisherman Curtis Cortez said he was informed of the season by his waterman.

“What affected me is they opened the season early, and I’m not notified,” he said. “That’s what I’m mad about. To me, the Wildlife and Fisheries should have done better to notify us. I was sitting down in the afternoon and the waterman told me, ‘Hey, you heard they opened the season?’ That’s not right.”

Cortez’s wife, Cathy agreed and said she and her husband looked on the Wildlife and Fisheries’ Web site and could not find any updates about the start of the season.

“If they started the season early because of the oil-related stuff, then I definitely took a loss, because I wasn’t told and I wasn’t ready for the season,” the fisherman said.

Since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig, countless barrels of oil have been pumped to the surface of the Gulf and are now intruding closer to the coast.

To combat the spill, workers have used both burning techniques and have poured dispersant on the oil. The frequency of the dispersant’s use also caused fishermen to wonder if that chemical would be harmful to their industry.

And Kerry St. Pe’, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, said that is a concern that goes into the decision of whether or not to use dispersants in any oil spill.

“Dispersed oil is more toxic than oil that’s not,” he said. “But there’s always a give and take in response. You make one decision on one place of whether to use it or not based on what the potential impacts are going to be and you pick which spots where the impact on wildlife will be the least.”

The timing of the spill couldn’t have been worse, St. Pe’ said.

He said the late spring and early summer months are critical times for fish and shrimp reproduction in our waters.

“In May, everything is spawning,” he said. “We have brown shrimp that are spawning that have hatched out, but they are not even big enough to market.”

In the meantime, local officials are monitoring the oil’s placement daily and are praying the wind directions keep the oil off the Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish coasts.

For the time being, officials say it appears the Tri-parish area will be spared from the worst the spill could bring. The areas forecast to see the worst effects are from Plaquemines Parish eastward to the Mississippi and Alabama coasts.

But St. Pe’ said the most important thing right now is getting the source of the oil plugged, because if it continues, everyone will be affected.

“We don’t want to have 5,000 barrels of oil spewing up from the ocean for 90 days,” he said. “That can not happen. That’s just way too much oil. If that does happen, we’ve got a serious problem.”

That sitting and waiting is not exactly what people like David want to hear as she sits and waits for normalcy to return to her business.

“We’ve already seen a hit,” she said. “People are nervous because of the uncertainty and are backing away from our industry. This is our way of life. We’ve got to get this fixed.”

Sutzi David, of Bayou Express Seafood and Catering, grimaces during a Terrebonne Parish Council press conference. Parish officials provided the latest on the efforts to stop the Deepwater Horizon from spewing oil into the Gulf. * Photo by MICHAEL DAVIS