[StBernard] Tony 'Ricky' Melerine fills new St. Bernard Parish fisheries post

[Westley Annis]

Wow!  Good way to solve your health care issues.  

Are there any other mid 5 figure jobs with health care available with parish
govt?

JY




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	Tony 'Ricky' Melerine fills new St. Bernard Parish fisheries post
	
	St. Bernard Parish has created a new position -- director of
fisheries and
	water management -- and hired former Parish Councilman Tony "Ricky"
Melerine
	to fill the post.
	
	Melerine worked at the seafood processing plant in Violet since
1968, but in
	October, Bumble Bee Seafood shut the plant down and told employees
it was
	moving to Thailand. While Melerine said the company may have other
	rationale, he said the shutdown of the plant -- which Bumble Bee had
owned
	since 2000 -- was because of the perception of Gulf Coast seafood
after the
	oil spill.
	
	Bumble Bee Seafood did not return calls for comment last week.
	
	Parish President Craig Taffaro says the newly created parish
position is an
	offspring of the Gulf oil spill and "how it has created a revamping
of the
	fisheries, both commercially and otherwise." He also noted the
closing of
	the Bumble Bee plant added to the need for the new post.
	
	Melerine said the oil spill will be a prime focus, and he will help
with oil
	spill claims and training, and that another top priority is
reopening the
	Violet plant.
	
	"Now Plaquemines and St. Bernard has no processing plant, and one of
my
	goals is to find grants to get that back up and running," he said.
"I want
	to go to other parishes and do some sort of co-op with them."
	
	"Instead of shipping (our seafood) out of state, it should be
processed
	here."
	
	He said the plant ideally would process all types of local seafood,
not just
	shrimp.
	
	Melerine also made clear he is adamantly against how imports are
driving
	down prices and pushing domestic seafood out of the market.
	
	"We need tariffs on all imported seafood to help build that industry
back to
	where it should be," he said.
	
	He plans to rally support along the Gulf Coast for the United
Fishermen of
	Alaska's efforts to create a national seafood-marketing coalition to
bolster
	awareness and consumption of domestic seafood. That coalition would
also
	lobby in Washington, D.C.
	
	Taffaro noted that Melerine and the parish have started examining
potential
	"fisheries development programs" with Ivan Miestchovich Jr.,
director of the
	University of New Orleans' Institute of Economic Development and
Real Estate
	Research.
	
	Melerine, 60, resigned his at-large eastern division council
position in
	March 2008, less than three months after taking over as Parish
Council
	chairman. At the time, he cited health problems and an upcoming
heart
	surgery that he needed after suffering three small strokes in 2007.
	
	He had been elected with 63 percent of the parish-wide vote to the
four-year
	term after representing District E for the eight previous years. He
could
	not seek re-election to the District E post because of term limits.
	
	Doctors had told him to avoid stress, he said. And after the closing
of the
	Violet plant, with another heart surgery already scheduled, he ran
into
	problems with health care coverage. The new parish post, which pays
$55,000,
	will help resolve that insurance bind, he said.
	
	Taffaro and Melerine overlapped on the Parish Council for four
years, from
	2004 to 2008.
	
	After Melerine's resignation, Councilman Wayne Landry, who is now
	campaigning to run for parish sheriff, won election to Melerine's
vacated
	seat.
	
	In addition to the new director of fisheries and water management,
the
	parish has received an $100,000 Walton Family Foundation grant to
hire a
	coastal restoration project manager. Taffaro said he plans to hire
someone
	in the next few months and that the expectation is the grant could
be
	renewed annually.