Shrimpers hold protest at State Capitol

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Aug 19, 2009 - Page: 1A

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South Louisiana fishermen voted Tuesday to go on strike and to keep their boats tied up until the price they are paid for shrimp increases.

Standing on the steps of the State Capitol, a crowd of shrimpers from coastal Louisiana parishes cheered loudly and chanted “No shrimp” when asked if they would stop fishing for shrimp immediately.

Then someone in the crowd, which police estimated to number between 500 and 600, played “The Star Spangled Banner” on a trumpet.

“I want them to go on strike,” said Dean Blanchard of Grand Isle, who runs a dock where the shrimpers sell their catches and buy the supplies for their trips. “I’m losing money every day.”

The price for white shrimp, which had been about $3 per pound in 2006, dropped to about $1 Monday and to about 60 cents by Tuesday morning.

Blanchard said the price he pays shrimpers is dictated by the processors to whom he sells.

“I can’t buy a bottle of water for what they’re paying for shrimp,” said Benton Pitre, of Cut Off.

Pitre said he pays about $2.15 per gallon for fuel, $10 for a block of ice, which is used to keep the shrimp fresh, and $7 for salt, which is used to keep the shrimp separate from the fish that also get caught in the trawl nets.

Tony Pizani Jr., of Grand Isle, said he pays about $1,500 in expenses whenever he takes his 60-foot vessel out for a trip of three or four days. That means he must catch nearly a ton of shrimp before breaking even.

“You can’t untie your boat for what they’re paying,” said Duane Vicknair, of Belle Chasse. “It’s either pay my house note or pick up my boat. I chose the house note.”

Ricky Picou, of Dulac, said, “We’re ready to chain our boats together across the bayou” to prevent boats from going out shrimping and to keep tractor-trailers from bringing shrimp in from other countries.

Picou said the shrimp processing plants buy shrimp from China, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh at a much cheaper price, and ship it to their factories in south Louisiana for peeling and packaging.

The processors aren’t interested in paying more for shrimp caught in waters off the coast of Louisiana, he said. “The man tells you: ‘I don’t need your shrimp.’ Something is wrong with that,” Picou said.