Louisiana Fishermen Say Crab Industry Still In Disarray

CHAUVIN — The tales vary from fisherman to fisherman and from crab buyer to crab buyer. But in big ways and small, crab landings and profits in the Terrebonne basin are nowhere near where those who depend on them for a living think they should be.

And things aren’t looking brighter anytime soon.

“What I have done for three years now is destroyed,” said Wayde Bonvillain of Montegut, who has closed his softshell business because expenses got too high and income was getting too low. “I have lost over half my crabs this year.”

Bonvillain and some others in the fishery point fingers at BP, but so far there is no clear and objective proof that the Deepwater Horizon spill is to blame. Parasitic infections are the cause of many crabs dying before getting to market, and that problem appears to be on the wane.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Houma Courier