Mississippi Shrimpers Refuse to Trawl, Fearing Oil, Dispersants

[cory777]

Source: IPS

BILOXI, Mississippi, Aug 20, 2010 (IPS) - The U.S. state of Mississippi recently reopened all of its fishing areas. The problem is that commercial shrimpers refuse to trawl because they fear the toxicity of the waters and marine life due to the BP oil disaster.

"We come out and catch all our Mississippi oysters right here," James "Catfish" Miller, a commercial shrimper in Mississippi, told IPS. Pointing to the area in the Mississippi Sound from his shrimp boat, he added, "It's the only place in Mississippi to catch oysters, and there is oil and dispersants all over the top of it."

On Aug. 6, Mississippi's Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ordered the reopening of all Mississippi territorial waters to all commercial and recreational finfish and shrimp fishing activities that were part of the precautionary closures following the BP oil rig disaster in April. At least five million barrels flowed into the Gulf before the well was shut earlier this month.

-snip-

"Why would we lie about oil and dispersant in our waters, when our livelihoods depend on our being able to fish here?" Miller asked IPS. "I want this to be cleaned up so we can get back to how we used to live. But it doesn't make sense for us or anyone else to fish if our waters are toxified. I don't know why people are angry at us for speaking the truth. We're not the ones who put the oil in the water."


Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52552

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Uncensored Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com Don't be Scared!

[tnlefty]

1. I've been keeping an eye on the local fisherman, and the locals

in general. The fishermen are organizing, but if the pattern is true, someone will be along shortly to call you names for even posting this.

[defendandprotect]

2. Read this on Yahoo today ....

am I wrong in imagining that these fishermen will now be caught between

BP/WH suggesting the oil is gone -- and the obviously legitimate concerns

re oil/COREXIT?

[Angry Dragon]

3. I did go and read the full article

I say anyone that says the shrimp and fish are safe to eat then they should back it up.
They and there families should have to eat a pound of shrimp,fish per day for a week to show how safe it is.

[Lost4words]

20. totaly agree! nt

[Dr.Phool]

4. Can't say I blame them.

With all that scientific smell testing going on.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. no one flushed the toilet and they're told 'it's fine' to go drink/eat from it

I'd stay away too

[lakers4life24]

6. And Yet the State Wants to Continue Offshore Drilling

Their seafood industry is already destroyed and thousands have already lost their livelihoods yet they want to risk another blowout and more oil leaking into the gulf.

[Mimosa]

7. This part is scary

From the OP link:


"We think they opened shrimp season prematurely," Miller told IPS, "How can we put our product back on the market when everybody in America knows what happened down here? I have seen so many dead animals in the last few months I can't even keep count."

On Thursday, several commercial shrimpers, including Miller and Stewart, held a press conference at the Biloxi Marina. Other fishermen there were not fishing because they feared making people sick with seafood they might catch.

"I don't want people to get sick," Danny Ross, a commercial fisherman from Biloxi told IPS, "We want the government and BP to have transparency with the Corexit dispersants."

Ross said he has watched horseshoe crabs trying to crawl out of the water, and other marine life like stingrays and flounder trying to escape the water as well. He believes this is because the water is hypoxic due to the toxicity of the toxic dispersants, of which BP admits to using at least 1.9 million gallons.

"I will not wet a net and catch shrimp until I know it's safe to do so," Ross added. "I have no way of life now. I can't shrimp and others are calling the shots. For the next 20 years, what am I supposed to do? Because that's how long it's going to take for our waters to be safe again."

David Wallis, another fisherman from Biloxi, attended the press conference.

"We don't feel our seafood is safe, and we demand more testing be done," Wallis told IPS. "I've seen crabs crawling out of the water in the middle of the day. This is going to be affecting us far into the future."

[Downwinder]

8. Sure wish I could believe my Government.

How many times do you have to be lied to to become cynical? I don't think I can remember the last time they told me the truth. Have they ever?

[Dover]

9. These fishermen have more integrity than our government or BP

Even with their livelihoods at stake they refuse to be a part of the charade and risk the health of
the general public. Our government should give these out-of-work fishermen new jobs at the EPA and FDA instead! God knows they'd be more reliable. But of course truth-telling often puts a wedge in
the cozy relationship between big business and the government. And we can't have that!

I'm disgusted at Obama's part in the P.R. campaign to suppress legitimate concerns. He should instead be a voice of caution, support further studies and listen to locals about their observations of the remaining and potential toxicity of the water and sea life.
You'd have to be a complete idiot to buy into that PR campaign, and apparently that's exactly what they think of us. How can Obama be trusted anymore?

[Downwinder]

10. It has been the same way since the 50's.

Maybe before, my memories don't go back that far.

On edit: Radiation won't bother you. Come watch the test explosion.
Oh, you must have just had some dental X-rays done.

[JohnyCanuck]

13. Agent Orange? Not a problem, why you could drink that stuff. n/t

[Kevin1a]

12. Mr. Fisherman EPA President

I was about to say the same thing. The fisherman quoted in the article can't even use proper English, but he has more common sense than any of the guys in Washington or at BP. Put this guy in charge of the EPA. I wouldn't even realize it if the government told the truth for once, because I've become so accustomed to being lied to.

[CountAllVotes]

19. How can Obama be trusted anymore?

Right you are. How can he be trusted anymore? I cannot believe his actions in this horrific incident. Swimming in it with his own child really made me wonder :wtf: is wrong with him. However, he could have been at another beach without chemicals in it somewhere else when it was filmed.

Let's face it. We cannot trust these politicians. :(

So much for "Change you can believe in." I feel like an idiot and have been duped by this whole charade and a big no to the DLC, I'm not sending you a dime.

:kick: & recommend.

[northoftheborder]

27. obama not photographed in the Gulf

That photo was made in the BAY, and photographer (hired by and released by the White House) deliberately let the public think it was in the Gulf. If this isn't deception, I don't know what is.

[CountAllVotes]

34. same story

different shill of a President it seems. :grr: :argh:

and the lies continue ...

:kick:

[Poboy]

23. good post. -nt

[Canuckistanian]

29. And they're smarter, too

They know that if they deliver poisoned seafood, people might never trust Gulf-caught produce for a long time.

They want to BE SURE that they're producing EXACTLY what their fathers caught and their fathers before them.

It's beyond shameless that the government is trying to cover up the TRUE damage that's been done to the Gulf.

[surrealAmerican]

31. They have no choice but to be cautious about the matter.

It's not just the health of potential consumers, but their own health as well at stake here. It really is their lives (not just their "livelihoods") at stake, and they know it.

[cory777]

11. Real People vs Psychopaths! Mississippi Fishermen vs Mississippi Department of Marine Resources

Project Gulf Impact
Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8qIAuk-mc


Breaking Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com

[saracat]

14. And people are unreccing this. That is beyond sickening.

Lives are at stake and some would suppress information.

[Hekate]

15. Kick and Rec for the integrity of the common working man who knows his job.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

16. If people want to know what integrity looks and sounds like,

they have a shining example in these fishermen.

How many BP shills or politicians would risk financial disaster due to their concern for their fellow man?

BP won't even have to compensate them for their losses since we've been "guaranteed" that the water and the life in the water is just fine.

More disgusting actions by the people and government agencies that are supposed to represent the American people.

[freedom fighter jh]

17. It's as if the concepts bioaccumulation and bioconcentration were expunged from the national vocab

Over a lifetime, an animal can develop much higher concentrations of toxins in its tissue than there are in the environment around it or in its food. And as you go up the food chain, each species may be exposed to higher concentrations than was the one before it. By the time you get to the top -- us -- a small amount of pollutant in the water can result in a pretty high exposure to the fish eater.

Thus fish and shrimp and crabs may be toxic -- unsafe to eat -- in water with far less concentrated oil/corexit than is needed to make them sick.

Studies have been done on many pollutants to determine what level of toxins in fish are safe for people to eat. EPA and the states should test the waters and determine what's safe. But until then, if a rag dipped in the water is coming up stained with oil and dispersant, it sounds like a good bet that the fish are toxic.

[blindpig]

18. So who ya gonna believe?

The People or the Capitalists and their pawns?

It's real easy, who has the motivation to lie?

Kill Capitalism

[Lost4words]

21. + 1 totally!! nt

[DFW]

22. These guys have more guts than their state or federal governments

They will starve if they don't put possibly toxic fish on other people's plates, and yet they refuse to do so.

These guys deserve financial aid and medals of honor. Maybe the Nobel Peace Prize, too. THIS is the meaning of
true citizenship.

Ir sure beats going in front of a Fox camera with a misspelled sign saying "government hands off my Medicare."

[Karenina]

24. . .

[Starry Messenger]

25. Workers know the facts.

Corporate suits lie. Why do people want to hate the workers and listen to lies?

[Selatius]

35. Because some people are willing to sell out to the suits in hopes of getting a cut of the money.

Greed is a force that shouldn't be underestimated.

[flyarm]

26. I thank the Fishermen froom the Gulf for their truth, their honesty and integrity!

too bad the same can not be said about our government, our EPA, our Coast Guard, who are all OWNED by the oil bastards and criminals of BP.

[another saigon]

28. this so heartbreaking

"We think they opened shrimp season prematurely," Miller told IPS, "How can we put our product back on the market when everybody in America knows what happened down here? I have seen so many dead animals in the last few months I can't even keep count."

On Thursday, several commercial shrimpers, including Miller and Stewart, held a press conference at the Biloxi Marina. Other fishermen there were not fishing because they feared making people sick with seafood they might catch.

"I don't want people to get sick," Danny Ross, a commercial fisherman from Biloxi told IPS, "We want the government and BP to have transparency with the Corexit dispersants."

Ross said he has watched horseshoe crabs trying to crawl out of the water, and other marine life like stingrays and flounder trying to escape the water as well. He believes this is because the water is hypoxic due to the toxicity of the toxic dispersants, of which BP admits to using at least 1.9 million gallons.

:cry:

[TheKentuckian]

30. How can this bogus cover up be swallowed, much less encouraged by a remotely decent citizen?

This as bad as any of the insane crimes of the last generation or two, arguably the worst considering the direct, immediate and ongoing impact on American civilians.

This deal is some extremely high level lying and white washing.

[Forkboy]

32. Meh...they just live and work there. What do they know?

I'm waiting for some DUer to come and set me straight before I believe these guys. They have reasons to lie....work, family, income....I trust the government instead.

[TheFarseer]

33. Trawling is terrible for the environment

It totally screws the ecosystem on the sea bottom. I read a 400 page book mostly about how overfishing and trawling are going to leave us with no seafood to eat in the future. Not sure if there is another way to catch shrimp but after reading that book, my first reaction to shutting down the trawlers was one of relief - although possibly a moot point given the millions of gallons of oil. Sorry to our fisherman friends!