Faced with Adversity, a Gulf Fisherman Seeks a Way to Survive
The massive BP oil blowout turned the Gulf into an ecological disaster for Andy Gibson and others along the Gulf coast who have made their living from seafood.
Everything was going perfectly this year for Dulac, Louisiana-based shrimp processor Andy Gibson – he had re-branded his family’s company – Tidelands Seafood Co. – as a provider of premium large Gulf shrimp. He had a broadened list of clients nationwide. And, the 2010 Gulf shrimp harvest was looking like one of the best ever.
Then, it all changed April 20 for Gibson and thousands of other people along the Gulf coast who have made their living from the bountiful seafood in the Gulf of Mexico – the massive BP oil blowout turned the Gulf into an ecological disaster. Prime fishing grounds were closed for precautionary reasons, and an inaccurate perception quickly spread that Louisiana seafood was dripping with oil.
Demand for Gibson’s premium shrimp dried up overnight while prices fell.
Demand for Gibson’s premium shrimp dried up overnight while prices fell. Like so many people in Louisiana’s seafood industry, he went from the top of his game to financial and marketing challenges within a matter of weeks … all because of perception and gushing oil.
Gibson, who is a fourth generation Louisiana fisherman, is determined he will figure out a way to make it through. “We’re pretty resilient people here,” he says, referring to decades of coping with hurricanes and constant wetlands erosion along the coast.
The real challenges, he says, are fighting off wrong perceptions and a flood of imported shrimp, much of which is not inspected and tested as thoroughly as seafood from Louisiana and along the Gulf.
He’s currently looking west … to the fertile fishing grounds of western Louisiana and Texas, untouched by the oil spill. In the meantime, he’s on the phone, reminding customers that Gulf shrimp is the best quality in the world.
Category: Fishermen
[...] Andy Gibson’s story is the classic example (on Friends of the Fishermen’s charity site). A fourth generation fisherman who found his waters closed to shrimping and the market for his goods bottomed out, Gibson simply went further out to the fertile fishing grounds of western Louisiana and Texas, untouched by the oil spill. Gibson is “determined he will figure out a way to make it through.” [...]