Tag Archives: Gulf Coast
David Rainer: Plash has ‘Gotta Go’ shrimping despite low prices
Doug Plash really can’t help himself, but you can blame it all on his roots. When he’s sitting at home on Plash Island on the banks of the Bon Secour River, the urge to head out in his boat and harvest the tasty crustaceans that are plentiful along Alabama’s Gulf Coast is overwhelming. “There’s a boat across the river named ‘I Gotta Go,’” Plash said in the wheelhouse of his shrimp boat named after his daughters, Melissa, Jennifer and Kristi. “I probably should have named my boat that.” Plash Island came into existence when the Intracoastal Canal was dug in the 1940s, separating the land that is surrounded by the Bon Secour River on the other sides. He is the fifth generation of Plashes to live on the island with his grandfathers buried on the island. One grandfather owned a freight company that used five schooners to haul beer from the Jax Brewery in New Orleans and hauled freight to Mobile. The semi-truck eventually left the schooners at the dock. photos, more, >>click to read<< 13:15
Imported shrimp eaten in U.S. may not be safe – U.S. Rep. Castor wants to do something about it
With inventories of shrimp sitting at docks throughout the Gulf Coast due to an abundance of imported seafood, the shrimp industry and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida want to increase the purchase of domestic shrimp in the United States and provide more federal funding to regulate imported shrimp for consumers. John Williams is the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents members of the shrimp industry from Texas through North Carolina. He said a lot of his members that are suffering right now. Castor’s bill, the Laws Ensuring Safe Shrimp Act (LESS Act) would address that issue by vastly increasing funding for the FDA to do inspections of foreign produced shrimp. >click to read< 16:07
Shrimp season threatened by Coronavirus pandemic
With seafood processors across South Mississippi closed for business, the shrimping season slated to open in as few as four weeks could be sidelined by another disaster. Because many coronavirus restrictions are still in place on the Gulf Coast, processors, shrimpers and the restaurant industry could take a hit for the second year in a row. Freshly caught shrimp will soon be harvested from the Mississippi Sound, but with coronavirus restrictions still in place, seafood processors that have been closed already have plenty of stock on ice. video, >click to read< 12:21
How cold is it? Texas Parks and Wildlife halts fishing along Gulf Coast during freeze
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has temporarily closed certain areas of the Texas coast to fishing in order to protect fish stocks, according to a statement. The closure is in effect from 6 a.m. on Jan. 2 to 10 p.m. on Jan. 3. “The high mortality that a freeze can cause may deplete fish stocks for years,” said Robin Riechers, director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division. click here to read the story 10:03
Gulf Coast spared the worst as Hurricane Nate rapidly weakens
Hurricane Nate brought a burst of flooding and power cuts to the US Gulf Coast – but spared the region the kind of catastrophic damage left by a series of hurricanes in recent weeks. Nate – the first hurricane to make landfall in Mississippi since Katrina in 2005 – quickly lost strength, with its winds diminishing to a tropical depression as it pushed northward into Alabama and towards Georgia with heavy rain. click here to read the story 08:03
Seven Years Later, Deepwater Horizon Still Spilling Into Legal System
The BP oil spill has faded from the global headlines, but seven years later, the effects on residents of the Gulf Coast and the legal system nationwide are far from over. While the journey has been long and difficult, there are lessons for those injured and their lawyers. The Deepwater Horizon Claim Center will likely shut down this year after paying an estimated $13 billion in individual and business claims for economic and property damages. As it does, payments from related settlements, this time with Halliburton Energy Services Inc., Trans-Ocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. and other defendants, will start. Thousands of claimants are expected to divide $1.24 billion.,,, Those in the seafood industry received $2.3 billion in compensation for business and economic losses. Of that, $520 million was not paid until late last year, which means some people waited six-and-a-half years to receive all of their money. click here to read the story 11:40
Northeast Fishermen thank Senators Mikulski, Shelby for including $150 million in fishery disaster assistance in a recent appropriations bill.
The House must still approve the allocation, would be split between the Northeast, Alaska and Gulf Coast fisheries. Last year, the House stripped an identical funding amount out of a different bill. more@seacoastonline 08:06
