A year ago, when the first news flash crossed the wires of a BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, Ewell Smith, director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, knew his industry had a potential problem. When the Deepwater Horizon rig sunk into the gulf waters, Smith realized he had a full-blown crisis on his hands.
A year later, Smith and the seafood board are still being flooded – literally – with problems that continue to hamper the recovery of the Louisiana Seafood Industry.
As the gates opened on the Morgazna Spillway to relieve pressure on the swollen Mississippi River to keep Baton Rouge and New Orleans from flooding, Louisiana wildlife officials took precautionary action to close two oyster harvesting areas that are receiving large amounts of freshwater intrusion. The onrush of freshwater into fragile oyster growing areas changes water salinity and kills the oysters.
During the height of the BP disaster, the state increased freshwater intrusion into the fragile actuaries in an effort to reduce oil contamination. The result of the action caused almost the complete destruction of oyster production, as well as the loss of high quality shrimp.
The Louisiana’s seafood industry has been struggling to recover from last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf.
In recent testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources committee, fisherman and seafood processors painted a bleak picture for recovery. The industry still faces a major “crisis of perception.”
Michael Voisen, CEO of Motivatit Seafood in Houma, LA testified that there were real challenges for harvesters because, although the product has been shown to be safe though rigorous testing, consumers worldwide were still failing to view Louisiana seafood as safe.
In addition to the “crisis of perception” problem, the bayous and actuaries that usually produce a bounty of high quality seafood are now overflowing with despair and anxiety.
“The impact of the oil spill on the communities and individuals are beyond anything you can ever imagine,” testified Kim Chauvin, owner of Mariah Jade Shrimp in Chauvin, La. Chauvin said that a year after the spill the region was worried, stressed, filled with anxiety and uncertain of the future.
“The frustration levels within our communities are at an all-time high due to the pay czar’s antics,” she said. Her emotional testimony told the story of how the system has failed the region to a point that it is not about compensation, it is now about staying alive – businesses and people “die while waiting for help.”
As heavy crude oil flowed into the Gulf from the crippled Deepwater Horizon wellhead, LouisianaSeafoodNews.com was established to give voice to the fisherman, processors, government officials, chefs and all involved in the seafood industry. As a founder of the former partnership that built and staffed with brand journalists the dynamic online seafood newsroom; it was a proud moment giving a voice to the faces of Louisisana seafood in their time of crisis.
Almost a year to the day after the BP disaster, the rapid rising water in the Atchafalaya Basin and Mississippi River has once again has thrown another challenge to the hard working family of Loiusiana seafood. The crisis they have been fighting for more than a year is not over, nor will soon. It is good to know that no matter how big the challenge; their voices will continue to be heard through the stories told on the seafood newsroom.
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