August 26, 2016
Vermillion Parish, Louisiana – The Fall shrimp season has begun, yet shrimp boat after shrimp boat is tied up at the dock. Why are Louisiana shrimpers not out fishing? Because the recent flooding pushed shrimp out of reach of shrimpers who don’t have the equipment to fish in very deep waters. The huge influx of freshwater affected the salinity such that shrimp moved to deeper, saltier waters in the Gulf. Fishers also report seeing no finfish but an unusual number of undesirable stingrays. No shrimp and fish means no income for the fisher and no income for the dock that processes and markets the catch.
