[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish fishers work to protect fragile Biloxi Marsh from Gulf oil spill

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish fishers work to protect fragile Biloxi Marsh from Gulf
oil spill 
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
May 03, 2010, 5:49PM


In the Biloxi Marsh, 18 miles east of Hopedale, where the last spits of
Louisiana marshland give way to the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a
cast of a dozen shrimpers, oystermen and crabbers were armoring Hell Pass on
Monday against a constantly encroaching enemy, the Gulf oil spill.


The nurseries of the Biloxi Marsh, a far-out section of St. Bernard Parish,
are home to innumerable oyster leases and prime spawning grounds for
Louisiana's seafood industry. And the crew of
fishers-turned-oil-protection-contractors was working as if their lives
depended on it.

David Palmer and Donny Smith anchored down a section of boom in the marsh,
while Kevin Heier and Brad Assevedo piloted a blue crabbing boat dragging
white protective boom to the other side of Hell Pass.

"It's kind of like a mullet net," Palmer said after tying off the boom
behind wooden stakes anchored in the marsh mud. "I just hope it doesn't get
this far. If it gets all the way here, that's too close."

As fishers in Plaquemines Parish were fighting through red tape to get
approval to deploy boom and protect the nurseries that deliver their
livelihoods, St. Bernard Parish fishers continued the work they had begun
over the weekend to close off as many passes as possible in the eastern
segments of the fishing grounds.

The Plaquemines Parish fiishers are slated to head out today to begin
battling the oil along the Plaquemines coastline. 

St. Bernard Parish held a series of training sessions to certify fishers
throughout the weekend and again Monday. BP, the company responsible for the
oil cleanup, is paying the fishers for their services. But so far only 40
have been hired, said St. Bernard Parish Councilman Fred Everhardt.

Many more have been certified but are simply waiting for phone calls. Robert
White, 58, of Florissant at the eastern end of St. Bernard, has had his cell
phone, his wife's cell phone and his home number on a list since Thursday
morning, but hasn't heard a word.


Monday afternoon he was washing down the deck of his 45-foot oyster boat,
the Tessie Ann, which has been idled since Friday when the state shut down
oyster fishing east of the Mississippi River. 
"There's nothing more I can do, just waiting for my phone call," White said.
The prospect of working cleanup doesn't compare to his preferred lifestyle
in oystering, but, "It'd be better than sitting at home with nothing to do.
And the bills keep coming, they haven't taken no time off."
It's unclear exactly how the selection process worked. There were several
meetings Friday and Saturday nights in St. Bernard for fishers who were
interested.

Everhardt has been critical of the number of fishers who have been employed.
He said many more boats could be put to work if BP would cycle more fishers
in and out of work once one crew has put out boom.

"It's the fairest way to make sure that everyone has a source of income,"
Everhardt said.