Shrimpers’ woes show no planning

Editor:

Aaron Nelsen’s July 18 story painted a grim picture for the shrimp industry, but one that should not have been a surprise to anyone since the problems facing the shrimpers are the same ones the rest of us are facing. The only difference is that the rest of us are adapting to the changes and not trying to get laws changed to favor us.

The increasing cost of fuel was named as one concern for shrimpers, but the up-and-down price has been going on for years. Every vehicle owner and industry manager has fought this battle for a long time, but we still get by. Maybe a boat that burns $140,000 in fuel is just plain inefficient and wasteful, and shrimpers should be buying more fuel-efficient vehicles like the rest of us.

Competition of low-cost shrimp from foreign markets was also named as a big problem, although these imports have been going on for years.

Conservation groups like the Sea Turtle Restoration Project went to bat for U.S. shrimpers years ago to prevent cheap imports and had some success, but never got a thank-you of any kind from the shrimp industry.

Now the latest problem is getting visas for enough Mexican workers to toil on U.S. shrimp boats for the season. The handwriting has been on the wall for a long time about workers from other countries, the need for visas, homeland security concerns, etc. The real problem is the low wages; otherwise Texans would be more interested in the work.

It’s ironic that shrimpers will complain about cheaper products from other countries but brag about profiting from cheaper laborers from other countries. One shrimp boat owner moans that another boat might offer his crew more money and. But Ed Sills, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO in Texas, was quoted in the Nelsen article: “And as for not being able to hire domestically, maybe they (shrimp vessel owners) should pay a little more.”

Another shrimp boat owner quoted in the article is taking the easy way out by saying, “The law is all messed up. It’s going to force people to break the law.”

Blaming the government is the easy way out when the shrimp industry needs to admit that they must face operating in a new world with new technology and new problems also.

Each shrimp boat owner and operator is going to have to make a decision based on the fact that the industry needs to live up to environmental standards and labor standards as well.

If there isn’t enough profit to fish (and live) within the rules and regulations of society like the rest of us do, maybe it’s time to hang up the trawls.

Carole Allen

Gulf office director

Sea Turtle Restoration Project-Texas

Houston

Via the Internet