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Jan. 2nd, 2012 10:23 pmA Fisherman's Farewell? Gulf Residents Fight for Their Future 15 Months After the BP Blowout
But it’s not just a bad shrimp catch that has people on the Gulf worried. Crab fishermen and oystermen also are reporting dramatically bad catches this year. They wonder if Americans will even be able to buy normal amounts of Gulf seafood in the future. Ocean Springs, MS, fisherman Lorrie Williams says she’s been pulling up pots full of dead crabs for months, some covered in black that “look like they been walking across a tar road.”
What really worries her is what comes next. “We’re not seeing the baby crabs like you usually see. Normally they’re crawling all over your arms when you pull up the pots. Not anymore. As bad as the crabbing was this year, I’m afraid there won’t be a season next year.”
...There’s a complete lack of shrimp out there right now. I’ve never seen it like this before. Shrimp with deformities, some with rotten tails, no eyes, smashed faces. I’ve seen some fish that look like they’ve been dipped in battery acid, some with lesions and livers on their outsides. Sharks and porpoises are washing up regularly. Scientists say the killifish—we call them bull minnows—have deformities. It’s just like with Alaska and the Exxon Valdez. The fish that keeps everything in balance goes extinct…none of us know what the hell we will do....
But it’s not just a bad shrimp catch that has people on the Gulf worried. Crab fishermen and oystermen also are reporting dramatically bad catches this year. They wonder if Americans will even be able to buy normal amounts of Gulf seafood in the future. Ocean Springs, MS, fisherman Lorrie Williams says she’s been pulling up pots full of dead crabs for months, some covered in black that “look like they been walking across a tar road.”
What really worries her is what comes next. “We’re not seeing the baby crabs like you usually see. Normally they’re crawling all over your arms when you pull up the pots. Not anymore. As bad as the crabbing was this year, I’m afraid there won’t be a season next year.”
