Everywhere you turn in southern Louisiana, there is something to remind you of oil industry’s presence here. On the ride out, there were rail tankers transporting oil products, pipelines cutting through the landscape, and multiple refineries, to name a few.
But there is also this juxtaposition of the oil industry with the fishing industry that is really incredible. This is an area where they take the quality of the fishing very seriously. It is enshrined everywhere (as you can see above). We were only along the coast for about an hour, and even in that time met folks who were willing to talk about how difficult the fishing is here now. The federal government and state governments only allow fishing in certain areas, that change almost daily as a result of the change in current that is carrying oil from the spill. Recreational fisherman that come for summer vacation are putting trips off this year as well.
One of the interesting things to look for will be how these two industries which have existed so harmoniously in this area carry-on. In an area that has been hard hit by disasters (on our drive we saw houses and boats destroyed by Katrina just hanging out in the wetlands), this summer’s fishing season is getting especially rocked.
