The annual blessing of the fleet in Dulac, Louisiana. The event celebrates the tradition of those families who earn their living as shrimpers, and centers around prayers for a safe and bountiful brown shrimp season.
Today’s sunset will bring an end to what many fishermen have called the worst fall white-shrimp season in recent memory.
State biologists say there’s no official data yet on how bad the season was or what may have caused it. Many shrimpers remain worried that the oil spill and chemicals related to the cleanup caused low shrimp catches, though there’s no official evidence to back that up.
There’s no doubt, however, that the slump comes at a bad time for shrimpers, who have battled low prices for their catch, competition from imported seafood, high fuel prices and multiple disasters, including hurricanes and the BP oil spill.
more from article by Nikki Buskey
Shrimping with Nathan and Paula Thibodeaux in Cocodrie.
Fishermen bemoan poor catches
Article by Robert Zullo
DULAC — Around this time of year, when Linward Dupre and his son Nick trawl the waters of lower Terrebonne, they normally fill their boat with thousands of pounds of smaller white shrimp.
This season, the second of the state’s two yearly inshore seasons, the Dupres, like other shrimpers across south Louisiana, are having a hard time finding them, and, for many, the lack of younger, smaller shrimp is troubling.
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