Crown Jewel: Terrebonne Library turns 10
April 16, 2013
Hulbert announces Aug. 1 retirement
April 16, 2013
With banners and pennants flapping defiance at the remnants of a fast-moving squall, a procession of shrimp boats glided southward on Bayou Grand Caillou Sunday, their captains
and the spectators bearing witness to staunch perseverance, at the start of one more season in a fishery undergoing rapid change.
The Dulac boat blessing, an annual observance that blends restrained bawdiness with traditional reverence, was the first of six scheduled for local waters this month.
This Sunday at Noon decorated boats will be seen in a similar ritual in Chauvin, on Bayou Little Caillou. At 1:30 p.m., boats will be blessed in Pointe-aux-Chenes. On Bayou Lafourche in Golden Meadow, boats will proceed for a blessing after a 9 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church.
On April 28 blessing ceremonies will be held in Montegut and in Dularge.
At the Grand Caillou boat blessing the Rev. Justino Estoque, Jr took his place at the prow of a 60-foot trawler, the Farah Elexis, in sparkling white vestments.
Farin Billiot, the vessel’s captain, eased the vessel out into the center channel shortly after 3:00 p.m. As Estoque shook holy water from an aspergillum in the direction of other boats, festooned with decorations.
Surrounded by family members and friends who came aboard for a trip down the bayou complete with boiled shrimp, crawfish and other delicacies, Billiot was overwhelmed by the honor of having his vessel chosen to carry the priest.
“It is important,” he said. “It is a wonderful feeling that you are the one, you are the king.”
Asked for his thoughts of the coming season, Billiot rolled his eyes. “I hope it’s better.”
Shaken first by plunging prices due to cheap imports, then a season shut down by the BP oil spill, the local shrimp industry is experiencing what could be a renaissance, though seafood observers are approaching that thought cautiously.
Behind the Farah Elexis another big boat, the Master Christopher, idled before the procession began.
Melissa Verdin, daughter of its captain, Ernest Verdin, said the entire family has been taking part in new programs aimed at promoting the fishery.
Now, when Ernest is heading to port with a hold full of shrimp, the information is blasted out on Facebook and Twitter.
Social networking has been a mainstay of late at the David Chauvin Seafood Company, located a few miles down the bayou from where the blessing began, and with the help of LSU SeaGrant the idea has been catching on.
That Montegut has reinstituted its boat blessing, a tradition that had been given up years before, is something many in the fishery see as a good sign.
“A few years ago it felt like the fishery was in mourning,” said SeaGrant agent Julie Falgout, who once operated a Houma trawler with her husband, Dean, but has been working for the state with fishing families for more than a decade. “This year you can feel the excitement, it’s like an electricity.”
Led by two boats from the Terrebonne Sheriff’s water patrol, the trawlers slowly made their way toward the bayou’s intersection with the Houma Navigational Canal. There, as a priest has done every year for at least four decades, maybe more, Estoque read from a prayer book, wishing a good and bountiful season and good working order for the equipment, as well as the protection of all fishermen from the perils of the deep.
A memorial wreath was then tossed onto the waters, in memory of all those who in the past had been lost at sea.
The solemn portions of the tradition thus finished, the waters filled with skiffs, jet skis, and other small craft, frolicking like dolphins, circling and jumping wakes, under the watchful eyes of deputies and to the consternation of some passing big tugs pushing barges.
“It’s been a good day,” said Lt. Mike Ledet of the Water Patrol. “People out with good friends, a great boat blessing, good food, and on top of that LSU won their baseball game.”
