Tag Archives: Captain Kip Marquize
‘Without us, you don’t have Louisiana:’ Struggling shrimpers warn lawmakers industry is on brink of collapse
For longtime shrimp boat captain Kip Marquize, it’s a race against time. “We are the heart of Louisiana. Without us, you don’t have Louisiana,” Marquize said as he navigated the channels out of Delacroix and deep into the bayous of St. Bernard Parish. “What I see is our whole state losing its identity on the world stage.” The biggest challenge they face is the sheer mass of shrimp currently being imported by the United States. “The importers, they got so much coming in, they’re starting to buy infrastructure,” Cooper said. “They’re buying freezers. They’re trying to buy processing plants. When they do that, you’re pushing us completely out. “We’re about to lose this industry.” video, >click to read< 14:34
Louisiana shrimpers call for legislators to take action, cap shrimp imports
“We have begged and pleaded for years and years and years for help, and we’ve been shunned, disregarded, ignored continuously,” said Captain Kip Marquize. “No longer can a blind eye be turned to our cause, it just cannot happen any longer. We will be completely extinct.” The Louisiana Shrimp Association held a “State of the Industry” meeting in Cut Off on Tuesday, with the goal of gathering as many shrimpers as they can to call on legislators to take action. “We have coasts that are just full of shrimp, we have processors that can’t sell shrimp, we have docks that can’t get rid of them,” said Acy Cooper, President of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. “We have people that just can’t go out because they can’t get rid of the shrimp, and there’s no need for that.” Video, >click to read< 10:09
