The potential economic impact of losses to the commercial and recreational seafood industries in Louisiana by Hurricane Katrina could reach up to $1.6 billion over the next 12 months, according to a preliminary draft report by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. While officials still need to conduct comprehensive assessments on the water and from the air, experts are already concerned that some commercial anglers will exit the trade as cheaper imports flood the market. "The industry is not going to exist for some period of time," says John Roussel, assistant secretary of the department.
Roughly 33 percent of all wholesale and retail seafood dealers reside in the impacted region, as do 63 percent of the state's charter boats. Rex H. Caffey, director of the Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy at Louisiana State University, considers the preliminary impact released by the state to be "extremely conservative," especially since his office estimated commercial dockside prices to be about $1 billion earlier this year. Louisiana produces more seafood than any other state in the lower 48. "I never conceived losing this much of the market at one time," Caffey says.
David Lavergne, a fisheries economist with the state, says all the natural resources devastated by Hurricane Katrina are renewable, although no one knows when they may return. The preliminary study puts the potential loss at the docks, which is the first point of sale for fishermen, at $12 million for crab, $44 million for oysters, $11 million for saltwater fish and $81 million for shrimp. None of the figures, however, include losses from damaged boats, shut processing plants and damage to other equipment. Consumers may feel a temporary pinch from high prices, officials say, but that is unlikely to last as cheaper imports offer an alternative. ' Jeremy Alford
MURPHY OIL'S NEW LAFAYETTE HOME
Murphy Oil Corp. has leased space in Saloom Office Park on Asma Boulevard to put its New Orleans-based employees back to work, says Kevin Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the oil and gas exploration and production company.
Before Hurricane Katrina, Murphy employed about 300 people out of its downtown New Orleans office, including support personnel for E&P, refinery operations and downstream retail. In all, El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy has about 6,000 employees.
Fitzgerald says the company has not yet decided how many New Orleans employees will work in Lafayette and whether the stay here will be permanent ' a move that would buck a longstanding trend of oil companies moving out of Lafayette. "All of those kinds of decisions haven't been made," he says. "We've got to get a bit of normalcy back to our lives."
The company's refinery in Meraux, where oil spilled into floodwaters after the hurricane, is still down. The hurricane also damaged some of Murphy's offshore facilities and hampered communication. ' Leslie Turk
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
JUNE 18 Former broadcast journalist Griffin Scott has posted this plea on his blog for financial assistance from his readers. Scott, who says he was fired after he wrote something fairly innocuous (for Facebook) on his wall, is suing a media giant for his job back. He's framed himself as David going after a bloated media giant, and he's probably not far off.
JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
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