Shrimping industry hit hard
Remember:Posted: 12:37
CNN Radio's Gary Baumgarten in Biloxi, Mississippi
While there's been a lot of attention on the oil industry and the casinos here in Biloxi, Mississippi, the shrimping industry is down for the count.
Most of the boats seem to have survived. The problem is the boats can't get out to sea because the bridges are down. They can't get under the bridges. Even if they could get them out, there would be no place to dock them because the marinas have been wiped-out. Also, there is no ice to keep the shrimp cold and fresh. There are no processing plants up and running. And they can't get fuel for the boats anyway.
Right now, the boat owners are assessing the damage to their boats and cleaning them up and hoping somebody will ride to the rescue. There is some fear that the owners of the processing plants will give up their land and walk away instead of rebuilding. Some of the shrimpers say they wouldn't criticize the plant owners for doing that, especially if someone wanted to buy the land to build a casino.
A lot of the shrimpers say they elected to ride out Hurricane Katrina on their boats in the bayou. They felt that they were probably safer in the boats than they might have been on land. They had them tied down real good and figured they could ride them up and down with the waves. Even though most survived, they are saying they will never, ever do that again.
Umm, I like my sin stirfried.