{"id":100075,"date":"2022-04-01T10:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=100075"},"modified":"2022-04-01T10:29:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T15:29:00","slug":"louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana communities still reeling from Hurricane Ida, pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Manan Bhavnani<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

EMPIRE, La. \u2014 Mitch Jurisich still remembers growing up on Louisiana’s water and going fishing and shrimping with his father as a kid. \u201cIt was a wonderful life, something I wish I could show my grandkids\u2026 but it doesn’t exist anymore like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jurisich, 58, is a third-generation oyster farmer from Plaquemines Parish whose family moved to the United States in the 1900s from Croatia, which was a part of Yugoslavia at the time. While his grandfather started the family business, his son and nephew harvest oysters these days. Jurisich and his brother handle the management side of the business.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch
Mitch Jurisich at The Ponderosa, the restaurant he owns at the Delta Marina in Empire, Louisiana. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jurisich, who serves as the chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, has been vocal about the state and federal government approach to environmental policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fishermen, as oyster farmers, we evolve with our coast, we grow with our coast, we learn from our coast,\u201d he said. Jurisich added he wants greater collaboration between the government and the seafood community in the decisions that affect them.<\/p>\n

Westwego, a city located about 12 miles southwest of New Orleans, hosts a sprawling seafood market. After first opening in 1977, the Westwego Shrimp Lot has catered to people from all over Louisiana as well as tourists making the short trip from New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Westwego Shrimp Lot in Westwego, Louisiana. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A city of just over 8,000 people, Westwego is tied to the town of Grand Isle, over 90 miles away. In the aftermath of the Cheniere Caminada hurricane in 1893, several families left Grand Isle before finding shelter in Westwego.<\/p>\n

Capt. James Camardelle\u2019s family moved to Westwego when it was first built in the late 19th century. Camardelle, 75, who was born and grew up in Westwego, reminisces how it was in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid growing up, I remember shrimp boats all over the place.\u201d With a booming seafood industry at the time, the village of Westwego gradually became a city by the 1950s as the population grew, he said. Previously a fisherman\u2019s community, it \u201chas changed a whole lot\u201d since he was a child, Camardelle said.<\/p>\n

\"Capt.
Capt. James Camardelle with a boat seen in the background. He currently works for Ultimate Swamp Adventures, running swamp tours on the water several times a week in Westwego. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Hurricane Ida devastating Grand Isle and Louisiana last year, people have been calling for more federal support in rebuilding. However, with inadequate government assistance, people are often left to fend for themselves. In a situation like this, local communities are an essential safety net.<\/p>\n

\"Submerged
Submerged docks in Grand Isle, Louisiana. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Westwego historian Loretta Persohn-Brehm recognizes this. \u201cEverybody helps each other out, that\u2019s how we survive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Westwego
Loretta Persohn-Brehm, 68, a Westwego native, is the city\u2019s local historian. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In February, several of the stalls at the Westwego Shrimp Lot were closed. With the shrimping season on the horizon, that might soon change.<\/p>\n

\"A
A boarded-up store at the Westwego Shrimp Lot in Louisiana. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, for the vendors that were open, customers were bustling in and out of stores, with some buying 20 pounds of shrimp. Others went with a few pounds of blue crab.<\/p>\n

\"Shrimp
Shrimp on ice in Westwego, Louisiana. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the activity, vendors at the market said they are facing challenges. For one, the pandemic has greatly reduced the demand for seafood. As a result, people are having to choose between maintaining inventory and adding food to their stock.<\/p>\n

\"n
An employee at Jerri\u2019s Seafood in Westwego weighs shrimp before the stock goes into the ice box. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hurricane Ida exacerbated those pressures. According to a recent report<\/a>, four hurricanes in the last two years have cost the fishing industry upward of $570 million in lost revenue.<\/p>\n

Until just a few years ago, Jurisich used to sell his catch at the Westwego Shrimp Lot. However, following the demise of the vendor he sold to, he does not do business there anymore.<\/p>\n

\"Wade\u2019s
Wade\u2019s Seafood Shack, a seafood store at the Westwego Shrimp Lot. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Wade,
Wade, the owner of Wade\u2019s Seafood Shack. Due to hurricanes and the pandemic, he said the availability of local shrimp and other seafood has been reduced. (Manan Bhavnani\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On March 22, a tornado<\/a> hit Louisiana, traveling nearly 11.5 miles from Gretna in Jefferson Parish to Arabi in St. Bernard Parish and beyond. The tornado killed at least one individual, with Gov. John Bel Edwards declaring an emergency in four parishes.<\/p>\n

From natural disasters to the ongoing pandemic, the future of Louisiana\u2019s fishing and seafood communities remains unclear.\u00a0Despite that, \u201cwe don\u2019t give up. We get back at it, we live to fight another day,\u201d Jurisich said.<\/p>\n

Manan Bhavnani is a graduate student in the Social Justice specialization at Medill. You can follow him on Twitter at @mananbhavnani<\/a>.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Manan Bhavnani Medill Reports EMPIRE, La. \u2014 Mitch Jurisich still remembers growing up on Louisiana’s water and going fishing and shrimping with his father as a kid. \u201cIt was a wonderful life, something I wish I could show my grandkids\u2026 but it doesn’t exist anymore like that,\u201d he said. Jurisich, 58, is a third-generation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":848,"featured_media":100097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,5280,5201,675,5282],"tags":[1396],"class_list":["post-100075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-new-orleans-gulf-coast-2022","category-medill-explores-2022","category-social-justice","category-spring-2022","tag-medill-reports"],"yoast_head":"\nLouisiana communities still reeling from Hurricane Ida, pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Louisiana, fishing and seafood communities are still feeling the impacts of Hurricane Ida and the COVID-19 pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louisiana communities still reeling from Hurricane Ida, pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Louisiana, fishing and seafood communities are still feeling the impacts of Hurricane Ida and the COVID-19 pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-01T15:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_4493-boat-lead-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mananbhavnani2021\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mananbhavnani2021\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/\",\"name\":\"Louisiana communities still reeling from Hurricane Ida, pandemic - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_4493-boat-lead-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-01T15:29:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/123f6b314675012877c1e29dfe9117bd\"},\"description\":\"In Louisiana, fishing and seafood communities are still feeling the impacts of Hurricane Ida and the COVID-19 pandemic.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/louisiana-fisheries-ida-pandemic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_4493-boat-lead-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_4493-boat-lead-2.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733,\"caption\":\"On the Mississippi River near Empire, Louisiana, the shrimp boat on the right was damaged by Hurricane Ida. 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