Louisiana's fishing and seafood industries are beginning to clean up from Hurricane Gustav, which battered the state a week ago today.
Gustav caused less damage than Katrina did three years ago, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. Still, fishermen and seafood processors suffered extensive equipment and property damage, and widespread electricity and telephone outages remain throughout southern Louisiana. Fishermen are working to get back on the water as quickly as possible, and residents are returning to New Orleans, says the board.
Louisiana's fishing and seafood industries contribute $2.6 billion to the state's economy.
"Our fishing communities in south Louisiana took a heavy hit from Gustav, but many world renowned New Orleans' restaurants have already re-opened and are serving their signature Louisiana seafood dishes," says LSPMB Chairman Harlon Pearce, owner of Harlon's LA Fish in Kenner, La. "We are working with our partners to get the more than 30,000 Louisiana seafood industry employees back to work so that we can continue to bring fresh, delicious and local Louisiana seafood to the nation."
Gustav's extensive rains may mar Louisiana's crawfish harvest, Greg Lutz and Mark Shirley, aquaculture specialists with the Louisiana State University AgCenter, told the Times-Picayune today.
"Rainfall ranged from a couple of inches to more than 20 inches in a few isolated spots," said Lutz. "Even though this is free water, it may cause producers to lose crawfish because water quality quickly deteriorates."
"This time of year, it is better to drain the stormwater out of crawfish ponds as soon as possible," added Shirley. "In the coming weeks, daytime temperatures will be in the 90s again, and trying to maintain water quality through pumping and flushing will be economically impossible."
On Friday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal asked the U.S. commerce secretary to declare the state's commercial fisheries a failure, allowing fishermen to access federal aid.
Gustav, which caused 23 deaths in Louisiana and three in Mississippi, will cost the global insurance industry between $4 billion and $8 billion, Swiss Reinsurance Co. said today. Insured damages from natural disasters through the end of August were 20 percent higher than in the same period last year, according to the Zurich-based company.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike, which was downgraded to a Category 2 storm over eastern Cuba today but is expected to re-strengthen over the Gulf, is most likely to make U.S. landfall as a Category 3 storm near the Texas-Louisiana border on Saturday, reports the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Hurricane forecasters warned that Ike's path is unpredictable, as the storm may hit anywhere from the Florida Keys to Texas.
