October 13, 2021 — For almost two hours Louisiana’s seafood leaders from all sectors of the industry gathered via zoom, mobile phones at restaurants or in cars, and in a conference room in Baton Rouge to discuss the damage of Hurricane Ida’s wrath on the State’s seafood industry. The consensus; the hurricane laid a path of destruction that has crippled almost every sector.
“It is pretty bad,” said Louisiana Crab Task Force chairman Britney Breaux. “Bayou LaFourche is completely destroyed. The docks are completely gone, 47 boats have been sunk and there is no ice or clean water. The bayou is filthy and littered with trees everywhere.”
“The purpose of this task force is to help the seafood industry recover from this historically damaging storm,” said Harlon Pearce of the Gulf Seafood Foundation. “Twenty years ago after Hurricane Katrina we formed a similar group. Our purpose today is to replicate the success we had then.”
The group was gathered under the umbrella of a joint effort between the Gulf Seafood Foundation, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Louisiana Sea Grant and Louisiana Ag Center at LSU. It was comprised of representatives from finfish, docks, bait dealers and marinas; as well as American Shrimp Processors’ Association, Omega Protein, Oyster Task Force, Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Shrimp Task Force, Crab Task Force, Coastal Conservation Association, Louisiana Shrimp Association, LSU Department of Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana Charter Boat Association, LSU Sea Grant, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, NOAA, Shell Oil, Louisiana Restaurant Association and the Gulf Seafood Foundation.
Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News