Randy(308) sent this interesting article from the Victoria newspaper.

BY TARA BOZICK - VICTORIA ADVOCATE

May 16, 2008 - 8:18 a.m.

The Gulf Coast shrimp industry as we know it is over, commercial shrimp operators say.

“It’s a shame, it really is,” Henry Anderson, owner of Clark’s Restaurant and Marina in Port O’Connor said. “I guess you would call it the degradation of the seafood industry.”

Anderson’s family entered the seafood business in 1917 and the 56-year-old remembers the peak of the shrimp industry. And now he sees its end.

“Fuel and imported shrimp prices,” he said. “You can’t overcome both.”

The amount of shrimp brought in from the Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season, which ended Thursday, will definitely be less than in past years, science director Mark Fisher with the Coastal Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife in Rockport said.

Even bay shrimp landings have decreased since 1987, Fisher said. The bay shrimp season started Thursday and runs through mid-July.

“The wild shrimp industry – it is in severe decline, both landings and effort,” Fisher said. “They’re not going out and trying.”

But not for lack of shrimp. The division’s netting survey this year brought in the second highest number of shrimp compared to past years, Fisher said. The quality of the shrimp also compares to past years.

The high cost of diesel fuel along with the declining price of shrimp would most likely cause a reduction in harvesting, Fisher said. He added imports make up roughly 90 percent of the market.

Farms in southeast Asia can raise shrimp cheaper than shrimpers can harvest wild shrimp, Fisher said. But this area’s climate isn’t favorable for raising shrimp.

The low cost of shrimp motivated some farmers to even switch to a more profitable species like catfish, Fisher said.

Most shrimpers in Palacios tied down their shrimp boats and found work elsewhere, Craig Wallis, owner of W&W Dock said. Wallis owns and maintains eight shrimp boats and hires crew to operate them, but the rising fuel costs forced him to tie up in February.

That same month, Wallis went to Washington, D.C. with the Southern Shrimp Alliance to lobby for fuel subsidies, tariffs on foreign shrimp and just plain old financial assistance.

“They kind of turned a deaf ear,” Wallis said, frowning. “I really think there are very few people who will be able to survive this.”

Loading his boats with 7,500 gallons of fuel and spending 45 days on the Gulf, he used to get by on 200 pounds of shrimp a night. Now Wallis needs 400 pounds of shrimp a night to break even. Still latching onto hope, he searches for fuel in Mexico, where the price hovers around $2 a gallon.

Around 300 people in the Palacios area, including shrimpers and supporting businesses, rely on the shrimp industry. Palacios serves as one of the two largest shrimp ports on the Gulf Coast.

Wallis can’t imagine the town without shrimp.

“I think the town would really suffer. I really do,” he said. “It gets pretty discouraging.”

Anderson predicts some shrimpers will try to hang on for a while but, ultimately, the industry will need federal help.

Over the last 10 years, Anderson watched more and more people in Port O’Connor slip away from shrimping.

With more money with recreational fishing, he diversified his own business in 1994 and sold off his shrimp boats. He now manages a restaurant, marina and bait shop.

At the back of his bait shop, he opened a freezer and pulled out a box of shrimp. The label said it was from Vietnam. He started experimenting with foreign shrimp because he foresees a time when his restaurant won’t be able to rely on domestic shrimp.

“I’ve got to run this restaurant and it’s a shame I have to run it with foreign-raised product when I got it swimming right here,” he said, pointing out to the Gulf. “It really is a sad situation. This is the worst. That’s why I say it’s over.”

Tara Bozick is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6504 or tbozick@vicad.com.