Gulf Fisheries in Decline After Oil Disaster

www.truth-out.org...

New Orleans, Louisiana - Hundreds of thousands of people living along the US Gulf Coast have hung their economic lives on lawsuits against BP.

Fishermen, in particular, are seeing their way of life threatened with extinction - both from lack of an adequate legal settlement and collapsing fisheries.

One of these people, Greg Perez, an oyster fisherman in the village of Yscloskey, Louisiana, has seen a 75 per cent decrease in the amount of oysters he has been able to catch.

Fishermen, like Greg Perez in Louisiana, are seeing huge declines in their catches.

"Since the spill, business has been bad," he said. "Sales and productivity are down, our state oyster grounds are gone, and we are investing personal money to rebuild oyster reefs, but so far it's not working."

Perez, like so many Gulf Coast commercial fisherman, has been fishing all his life. He said those who fish for crab and shrimp are "in trouble too", and he is suing BP for property damage for destroying his oyster reefs, as well as for his business' loss of income.

People like Perez make it possible for Louisiana to provide 40 per cent of all the seafood caught in the continental US.

But Louisiana's seafood industry, valued at about $2.3bn, is now fighting for its life.

'The shrimp are all dead'

Perez is not alone.

I am still following this. This is not over. This why I won't touch seafood unless I catch at a local small lake.

that is what happens when you allow companies to dump toxic dispersents to get rid of the oil. The american Government allowed this so why dont you claim for damages from the Government as they were the ones who oked the use of Corexit

Wait a minute I have been seeing advertisements from BP all week long that have been telling me that every thing is back to or better than normal now. Your report must be wrong!