by Guest Blogger, Sara Hoffman
As a New Orleans resident and impassioned supporter of Gulf Coast food traditions, I wanted to share some thoughts on Louisiana people and culture in light of the horrific oil spill.
The decline of seafood in Louisiana doesn’t just mean less fish specials at American restaurants, it truly means the extinction of one of the few indigenous cultures left in the United States. The P+J Oyster company’s recent suspension of operations is a sad reminder that with the fishing industry goes the hard work of countless peoples of all heritages who have made the bayou their home.
It’s not fishing alone that’s caused trouble-look to all the canals that oil companies have dug throughout the region, leaving our coastline devastated for the next hurricane and seriously reducing the area of wetlands that serve as nurseries for one of the most productive fisheries in the United States.
The decline of seafood stock is disturbing, but we must care for the people and culture that depend on seafood. Large scale industrial fishing is very different from small-scale and traditional fishing methods. Thousands of men and women who harvest seafood sustainably call the Gulf Coast home. They are historically some of the most successful environmentalists and protectors of this sacred region and should never be conflated with multinational fishing operations.
According to Sarah Parsons on Change.Org “the Gulf is home to some of the most sustainable fishing practices in the world. Seventy-five percent of America’s wild-caught shrimp (a practice far more environmentally friendly than farmed shrimp) come from the Gulf of Mexico.” People who live on and from the land have a vested interest in sustaining it. Please refer to Gary Nabhan’s article on Grist for more information.
What You Can Do to Help
Accusing BP is not enough: what about the chemical companies and food conglomerates that contribute to the mile-wide dead zone in the Gulf each summer? Or the intricate bureaucracies that continue to make it impossible for huge numbers of Louisianans to return home since Katrina? In New Orleans we are preparing ourselves for the possibility that even a small hurricane could cause the annihilation of our cities and fragile Gulf. I encourage everyone to come down here and get their hands dirty with relief work, reflect on how their personal choices can lead to a sustainable Gulf Coast, and fight for a stronger federal response to this unacceptable disaster.
Sara Hoffman
Sara Hoffman lives in New Orleans and works with the Louisiana Delta Service Corps (a branch of AmeriCorps), where she is serving at the Edible Schoolyard New Orleans. Sara graduated from Wesleyan University in 2009.
Hartke is my Favorite Blogger!
One Comment
Thank you for this, Sara. To add to Sara’s explanation of how central this food is to the culture, economy, and ecology of our Gulf Coast, look over this sensitive and well-written article from the Los Angeles Times on the human and environmental ripple effect that we are starting to see from the loss of the oysters: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-oysters-20100718,0,3796623.story
The devastation of fishing as a viable way of life could have far longer-reaching environmental effects in Louisiana than even the still-spreading “black gold” that is choking the gulf.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and spent many hours on car trips looking out the window at miles and miles of Weyerhaeuser timber farm. While the sight of a clear-cut still shocks me, and the forests are certainly not the majestic, moss-draped old forests that species like the Spotted Owl depend on, I couldn’t help but wonder if those forests would be there at all if not for Weyerhaueser. In the city where I lived, it seemed like a new patch of forest was being cut down each day for more houses, more apartments, more strip malls.
When we consider the environment and our ability to live in a way that supports the life-systems and ecology around us, it is important to look at how humans are making a living. I was recently at a talk-back with Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, our Louisiana House Representative here in New Orleans, where he argued that Louisiana’s economy could not support a continued moratorium on oil drilling. What of all of the workers? All of the local citizens whose livelihood depended on working the rigs?
I worry, with this hard blow to the Louisiana seafood industry– an industry which made the protection of our waters and coasts not just about conservation but also about business (and which, of course, was not perfect and could have used some tweaks to its regulations — see http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012369248_fishingdeaths16m.html for more on the problematic setup of the shrimping industry). I worry that a livelihood that depended on knowing the land and water, protecting it, and harvesting its bounty will be wiped out and oil will be the only way of making a living.
If the oystermen have to become oil men, who will protect the gulf?
One Trackback
[...] more from the original source: Oil Spill Devastates Gulf Coast Sustainable Fishing and … Share and Delight [...]