The commercial fishermen of south Louisiana face a tough decision.
Do they return to the waters as independent shrimpers or stay enrolled in the Vessels of Opportunity Program? One avenue provides a familiar setting and semblance of normalcy, while the other produces a check without the worries of consumer demands.
Most of the coastal waters have re-opened for fishermen, but that status was only half the problem from the start. Once it was known that oil leaking out of the Deepwater Horizon would reach the Louisiana coast, seafood paranoia settled in and it became apparent that casting could cost more money than a haul of shrimp could yield.
Dean Blanchard, who owns Dean Blanchard Seafood Inc. on Grand Isle, said the government has lied throughout the crisis, so consumers are not going to believe them when they say the shrimp is safe for consumption.
"If everything is good, they should give us some papers that say it's safe, it's been checked and they're going to stand by it and guarantee it, and if we get sued they're going to pick up the lawsuit," said Blanchard, who has been eating Gulf shrimp for the past couple of days. "But they don't go that far because nobody in the government is ever held accountable for anything."
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Tri-Parish Times (Houma, LA).