Tri-parish residents can still recoup money

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is extending its deadline again for its Commercial Fishermen and Seafood Dealers Cooperative Research Program.

Application materials on salmon-colored paper were mailed to eligible fishermen and seafood dealers in April 2009.

The first deadline was Dec. 31, 2009, but LDWF postponed it to March 31 and now again to June 30 because not all material has been mailed back. LDWF spokesperson Laura Deslatte said this will be the final extension.

“We’re just trying to give one last chance for people to get their surveys in,” said LDWF “We want as much money that can go directly to the fishermen get out.”

According to South Central Planning & Development Commission Economic Development Administrator Cullen Curole, out of about 48,000 eligible fishermen and seafood dealers, about 35,000 returned their application and received a survey.

Curole said 29,000 eligible participants have completed their survey, leaving about 6,000 who have not.

The survey asks fishermen and seafood dealers for income information from before and after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and after hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

“A lot of people don’t want to talk about their income,” said Curole. “They don’t feel that that’s anybody’s business.”

Curole added the survey could be as long as 88 pages for certain fishermen, making it cumbersome for the locals.

“From a fisherman’s standpoint, they’re asking what looks to be the same question five times. It’s not, because there are different nuances with regard to different storms, with regard to multiple boats,” he said. “It’s like they’re trying to ask me the same question all these times to try to catch me in a lie. That’s not what it’s about, but there’s a lot of skepticism.”

Many fishermen and seafood dealers who turned in their paperwork early have already received checks from LDWF for their information.

“So now that people are seeing checks, those who are skeptical about ever seeing that check are saying, ‘Maybe this is something that I should do and not just ignore,'” said Curole. “So I think the last minute activity is giving LDWF the encouragement to say, ‘Let’s try for a little bit longer and see if we can get more participation.'”

Fishermen will receive a set amount of money depending on the tier they fall into.

For example, in the Katrina/Rita Fisheries Assistance portion of the survey, a fisherman’s tier is determined by the value of his trip ticket between Sep. 1, 2005, and Aug. 31, 2008.

If a fisherman reported sales of more than $5,984 in that time period, he would receive a Tier 1 check for $208.83. Tier 2 fishermen sold more than $24,786 and are to receive $870.22, and Tier 3 fishermen sold more than $108,804 and are to receive $3,820.05.

As for the seafood dealers in that time period, their checks can be much more lucrative.

Tier 1 seafood dealers reported purchasing $20,756 and are to receive a check for $1,437.91. Tier 2 seafood dealers reported purchasing $67,527 and are to receive $4,678.05. Tier 3 seafood dealers reported purchasing $632,436 and are to receive $43,814.97.

Curole said although fishermen can receive compensation from this program, the survey was designed for LDWF to acquire data for future reference.

“Next time there’s a storm, DWLF can go to Congress and say, ‘Look after the last two storms how much we lost. We need this assistance because we lost this for these storms so chances are we’ve lost this amount again,'” said Curole.