NEWSROOM
Louisiana
Seafood Industry Down, But Not Out
September 20, 2005
Louisiana
seafood products making their way to the market now are safe –
despite disruptions and losses the industry suffered as the result
of Hurricane Katrina, according to experts at the LSU AgCenter.
Oyster beds
in the Gulf of Mexico east of Terrebonne Parish are closed, but
shellfish, including oysters, harvested from other areas are safe
to eat, said Dr. Jon Bell, a seafood technology professor in the
LSU AgCenter.
Bell said
the westernmost portions of the Louisiana oyster beds were never
closed and that they produce about one-third of the state oyster
harvest. All other oyster-growing waters were closed as a precaution
until their safety can be verified.
The LSU AgCenter
expert said some growing areas west of Lafourche Parish already
have been assessed by state officials and found to be safe. They
have been reopened to harvest.
Bell also
said the tests of the waters and shellfish in these areas indicate
bacteria concentrations are below allowable levels and that all
chemical tests were negative.
The testing
is "part of the normal program for post-hurricane evaluations,"
he said.
In addition,
Bell said processing facilities that were affected by the hurricane
and resulting power losses must undergo strict sanitization prior
to handling products coming from the Gulf and that they must continue
processing under the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
(HACCP) food safety system.
He said shrimp
processors in Dulac and Houma were able to recover from the storm’s
effects and resume shrimp processing within a week. Facilities
further west had no damage and continued with processing operations
supplied by shrimp vessels that remained in the Gulf or were docked
further west during the hurricane.
"All
seafood exposed to floodwaters or spoilage due to lack of refrigeration
is unfit for human consumption and must be destroyed," Bell
said. "Federal, state and local officials are visiting seafood
processing and storage facilities to determine if remaining stored
products are safe or not."
The LSU AgCenter
expert added that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced
it is not aware that any seafood processed prior to the hurricane
and stored in the affected areas has entered the commercial marketplace
since the hurricane.
"Controls
are in place to ensure the safety of Louisiana’s seafood,"
said Dr. Sally Soileau, a nutrition and health agent with LSU
AgCenter in East Baton Rouge Parish. "Products reaching consumers
are produced under safe and approved processes regulated by the
state Department of Health and Hospitals and the FDA."
But while
the seafood coming to market is safe, many Louisiana producers
in the hurricane-affected areas are facing trying times, according
to industry observers.
LSU AgCenter
economist Dr. Kurt Guidry estimates fisheries losses at more than
$151 million based on 2004 dockside values and assumed percentage
losses. In addition, he said infrastructure damage also is likely.
In addition
to commercial fisheries, Guidry estimates more than $20 million
in losses to Louisiana’s charter fishing industry based
on the number of licensed guides in the state, estimated average
revenue per fishing trip per day and estimated number of loss
fishing days.
The Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported 33 percent of the
wholesale and retail seafood dealers licensed in Louisiana, 35
percent of the commercial fishermen, nearly 50 percent of the
commercial vessels and 63 percent of the charter vessels are based
in the parishes affected by Katrina.
Bell said,
however, that many processors west of the storm’s path have
been able to restore power, meet sanitization requirements and
begin processing seafood again.
Despite environmental
disruptions, fisheries will rebound, but the people who fish may
be another story, according to Dr. Rex Caffey, an economist and
director of the LSU AgCenter’s Center for Natural Resource
Economics and Policy.
"During
the past decade, 42 percent of the commercial fishermen in Louisiana
have gone out of business, mostly because of global competition"
Caffey said.
"Commercial
fishing is one of those labor-intensive industries that does not
compete well in a global market," he added. "The rising
cost of fuel and increasing environmental regulations also are
affecting the fishermen’s bottom line."
Caffey pointed
out that New Orleans is the major market for Gulf fisheries, and
the devastation in that city likely will hamper marketing Louisiana
seafood for some time.
"The
industry is not just harvesting. It includes docks, ice houses,
transportation infrastructure, value-added processing, wholesale
businesses and retail businesses," Caffey said.
"After
Katrina, we don’t know what will happen," Caffey said.
"We don’t know what the fishing industry will look
like after this storm."
Caffey said
Louisiana produces 20 percent to 25 percent of the total domestic
seafood in the lower 48 states and 75 percent of all seafood harvested
in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
To aid the
fisheries industry, the U.S. Department of Commerce has declared
a "fishery failure and fishery resource disaster declaration"
for the Gulf of Mexico.
Dr. Hamady
Diop, an economist with LSU Sea Grant, said this means the Secretary
of Commerce is authorized to request federal relief funds for
the affected Gulf States. He said these funds can be used to assess
effects of the disaster, restore fisheries and assist affected
fishing communities in recovering.
"The
federal share of the cost of the relief activity is 75 percent,
and the state will have to match the remaining 25 percent,"
Diop said. "Generally, the state participation is non-monetary."
Once funds
are appropriated, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
will provide information on how to apply for relief, Diop said.
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