[StBernard] (no subject)

[Westley Annis]

New effort to help fishermen shore up finances
06:32 PM CDT on Sunday, May 25, 2008
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News Reporter 

In recent years storms and foreign imports have taken their toll on the
seafood industry, but now there is a new effort to help fishermen shore up
their finances so they can stay in business. 

Officials in several local parishes are hoping the new assistance center
will be able to help what they call a threatened livelihood in the state. 

The money comes from federal disaster recovery dollars that were allocated
to the state. 

All this comes about as the Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival wraps up
this weekend in Belle Chasse. 

Officials say it is one more example of just how important seafood is to the
local economy. 

"When the fishermen are doing good, they're spending their money and not
only in our parish, but throughout the area," said Plaquemines Parish
President Billy Nungesser. "And it doesn't stop at the drawbridge." 

"Between Plaquemines Parish and Saint Bernard Parish, we provide the vast
majority of the state's fisheries and seafood," said St. Bernard Parish
President Craig Taffaro. "So, our fishermen have always been an anchor to
our community and we're glad there's something happening now with the
disaster assistance program." 

The new assistance center is operated by Seedco Financial, which calls
itself a community lender. 

"We look at the nature of their business, how they were doing before the
storm and work with them on an plan for how they can get back up and
running," said Robin Barnes with Seedco Financial. 

Those who make their living off the water, like Ante Lepetic, say help has
been needed since Hurricane Katrina battered the coast. 

"Now, they start coming back, but we were suffering for three years,"
Lepetic said. 

If you would like more information on the assistance center, call
504-520-5729.