LAFITTE, La. — Gloom infects the hard-working shrimp and crab docks of this gritty fishing town as the second full year of fishing since BP's catastrophic oil spill kicks into high gear.
Usually folks are upbeat and busy in May, when shrimpers get back to work in Louisiana's rich waters. This spring, though, catches are down, docks are idle and anxiety is growing that the ill effects of the massive BP oil spill may be far from over.
An Associated Press examination of catch data from last year's commercial harvest along the Gulf – the first full year of fishing since the 2010 spill – reveals merit in the fishermen's complaints. According to the analysis of figures obtained through public records requests, seafood crops hit rock bottom in the Barataria estuary, the same place where some of the thickest waves of oil washed in when a BP well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Detailed data from "trip tickets" fishermen fill out when they unload at docks reveal steep drops in Barataria, though it's far from bleak everywhere along the Gulf Coast. Fishermen are making money that is pretty equal to before the spill, according to the 2011 data not officially released yet by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Part of the reason is that though the fishermen aren't hauling in as much, prices are up so people are paying more for seafood from the Gulf than other sources.
In Barataria, the number of shrimpers in the water has remained steady, yet the fall season was off by about 7 million pounds from an average of 18.1 million pounds between 2006 and 2009. It wasn't a pretty picture for blue crabs either in Barataria: the crab catch was off by 2.7 million pounds from an average of 9.5 million pounds between 2006 and 2009, the data showed.
Fresh water from a historically high Mississippi River could have been the culprit for some of the drop off in productivity, marine experts said. Another factor may be that some areas in the estuary were closed due to oil contamination. One such place is Bay Jimmy, where oil is still gooey and thick on the shores.
Fishermen blame the spill. In Lafitte, they said the new shrimp season was off to a slow start.
"I'm afraid that oil spill has ruined us," said Ken Lee, a shrimp dock owner. "We're hardly unloading any brown shrimp at all."
For now though, a range of government officials, scientists and seafood experts say it's much too early to make any definite link between the oil spill and one-year declines in catches. Seafood harvests, while generally predictable, are subject to fluctuations even in the best of times.
But Lee shook his head as he looked over a sheet tallying recent shrimp loads in the past few days. It was slim pickings. Moments before, an 18-wheeler pulled away from his dock with just seven vats of frozen fresh shrimp. The truck has room for more than 40, he said.
"That's pitiful!" he said. "We usually load a truck full."
While catches were off, though, prices were high. The Louisiana data shows fishermen actually made as much or more in 2011 than they had in previous years. The total values of the blue crab and oyster harvests were higher than the six-year average.
Taken as a whole, the volume of seafood harvested last year in Louisiana for shrimp, crabs and oysters showed only modest drops from averages for 2003-2009, according to the AP analysis. Catches for 2010, the year of the spill, were excluded because much of the Gulf was shut down. Meanwhile, in Texas, the oyster and crab hauls were down slightly from 2003-2009 averages, the AP analysis showed.
Drought could have been a cause there, a Texas official said. The state did not have figures on its shrimp catch. Florida's data showed no major swings in harvests of oysters, crabs and shrimp. Mississippi's shrimp haul was down about 13 percent from 2003-2009 averages and its small-scale crab harvest was down 52 percent. From the 2003-2009 average, Alabama's brown shrimp catch was off 12 percent, blue crabs were off 27 percent and oysters down by about 50 percent, the state's data showed.
Fishermen say economic conditions were tough before the BP spill due to imports, high fuel prices and hurricanes. But now they say they've reached a low point since the blown-out well spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil.
In Bon Secour, Ala., Mike Skinner, a third-generation shrimper whose entire family works in the business, said last fall was the worst season he had ever seen.
"Hopefully it was a fluke thing. We'll find out this year," he said as he piloted his trawler across Mobile Bay.
In Alabama, seafood sales are down about 10 percent to $146 million in the two years since the BP gusher, according to an Auburn University study obtained by the AP. The downturn represented nearly $16 million in lost sales and has left few fishing boats in industry hubs like the Bon Secour River.
To ease the hardships, BP has given $48.5 million to Gulf states so they can market their seafood industries on websites, TV commercials, billboards and print ads that say the catch is healthy.
BP spokesman Craig Savage said the Gulf seafood industry was strong. "The fact is, the data show that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe and abundant, according to numerous government reports," he said.
Truly identifying any effect of the spill – if any – on marine stocks won't be possible from landings data for several years, said Chuck Wilson, executive director of the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, a university-based group of agents and researchers.
Still, there's reason to be wary, said Olivia Watkins, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
"We are seeing a number of anomalies in the Gulf of Mexico," Watkins said. "We should not attempt to draw premature conclusions."
The long-term prognosis for the Gulf's health remains uncertain.
Recent studies have found higher numbers of sick fish close to where BP's well blew out and genome studies of bait fish in Barataria have identified abnormalities. Meanwhile, vast areas of the cold and dark Gulf seafloor are oiled, scientists say.
And many fishermen are convinced something's amiss.
"I think the oil can kill the shrimp eggs. That's why there was no shrimp to catch last year," said Tuna Pham, a 40 -year-old Vietnamese-American shrimper docked in Lafitte. He said the catch this year was bad again.
"We was there to work, but couldn't," said Lawrence Salvato, 49, as he stopped for lunch on a dock where he moors a shrimp skiff he runs his wife, Lisa. "Usually people are excited and they can't wait to get out there. This year, there's no real incentive."
He said he made about $10,000 in seafood sales last year compared to $75,000 in 2009. He said his family made do with a $40,000 interim payment they got from BP. Fishermen who haven't settled legally yet with BP over damages continue to survive on periodic payments from a $20 billion trust fund set up by BP.
"We're afraid," Salvato said. "A lot of people are getting out of fishing. They're afraid."
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Associated Press writer Jay Reeves reported from Bon Secour, Ala.
Photos from the oil spill disaster:
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In this June 3, 2010 file photo, a bird is seen on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast after being drenched in oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well "is effectively dead." A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. (Charlie Riedel, AP)
This May 28, 2010 image taken from a BP live video feed shows fluid escaping from a fractured pipe which has been spouting oil for 36 days on the seabed off the Louisiana coast following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform. The United States filed suit on December 15, 2010 against BP and eight other companies for damages stemming from this year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst in US history. The complaint was filed by the Justice Department with a federal court in New Orleans, where thousands of individuals and small businesses have already sued the oil giant. (AFP / Getty Images)
In this April 21, 2010 file photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning. A BP scientist identified a previously unreported deposit of flammable gas that could have played a role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the oil giant failed to divulge the finding to government investigators for as long as a year, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press. (Gerald Herbert, AP)
Massive Oil Slick Threatens U.S. Gulf Coast
GULF OF MEXICO- MAY 5: Gathered concentrated oil burns during a controlled oil fire May 5, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Coast Guard oversaw the oil burn after the sinking and subsequent massive oil leak because of the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform off the coast of Louisiana. (Photo by Justin E. Stumberg/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
In this aerial photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, an oil slick is seen as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns. (Gerald Herbert, AP)
In this May 5, 2010 file photo, shrimp boats are used to collect oil with booms in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, La. (Eric Gay, AP)
BP CEO Tony Hayward (C) answers questions from the media on an oil-stained beach on May 24, 2010 at Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Hayward said that BP is doing everything possible to clean up the massive oil spill still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Officials now say, however, that it may be impossible to clean the hundreds of miles of coastal wetlands and islands affected. (John Moore, Getty Images)
In this June 5, 2010, file photo Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts his boot out of thick beached oil at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay, just off the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La. After three long months, the bleeding from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico has been finally, mercifully stanched. But in so many ways, the prognosis remains uncertain. (Gerald Herbert, AP)
A brown pelican covered with oil from th
A brown pelican covered with oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, swims at Sandy Point in the Gulf of Mexico, near Venice, Louisiana, June 15, 2010, prior to being captured by team of biologists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Birds are caught and then cleaned at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
GULFPORT, MS - JULY 1: An Oil cleanup worker uses a shovel to remove thick oil that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on July 1, 2010 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In this June 3, 2010 file photo, a brown pelican is mired in heavy oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well "is effectively dead." A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. (Charlie Riedel, AP)
Massive Oil Slick Reaches Louisiana Gulf Coast
VENICE, LA - MAY 02: Oil spill workers head out to their boats as they prepare to help with the cleanup of the massive oil spill created in the aftermath of the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig May 2, 2010 in Venice, Louisiana. High winds and rough water have slowed the cleanup effort. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A man cleans a beach May 4, 2010 in Bilo
A man cleans a beach May 4, 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the gulf coast is still being threatened by the oil spill from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster. AFP PHOTO/Stan Honda (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. President Barack Obama picks up balls of tar while touring the beach May 28, 2010 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The oil spill resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster now officially ranks as the worst in U.S. history. (Win McNamee, Getty Images)
Hermit crabs struggle to cross a patch of oil from the the Deepwater Horizon spill on a barrier island near East Grand Terre Island, La, Sunday, June 6, 2010. (Charlie Riedel, AP)
Mississippi River water (L) meets sea wa
Mississippi River water (L) meets sea water and an oil slick that has passsed inside of the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands, as cleanup operations continue for the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster off Louisiana, on May 7, 2010. The Gulf of Mexico oil slick threatens disaster for the fragile US coast, causing clean-up efforts to focus on the best of a bad set of options: fight it there before it arrives here. An army of workers hired by British Petroleum, along with the US Coast Guard and local officials in Louisiana, have rushed to set out protective booms, spread dispersants and burn the oil when they can as it moves toward the shore. The strategy is to deal with the growing slick as much as possible before it laps into wetlands on Louisiana's coast, where its effects could be catastrophic and cleaning it is infinitely more difficult if not impossible. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
Workers put the finishing touches on the
Workers put the finishing touches on the Pollution Control Dome at the Martin Terminal worksite in Port Fourchon, as BP rushes to cap the source of the oil slick from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster in Louisiana, on May 4, 2010. BP delayed until May 5 the deployment of a giant 'dome' to try to contain the main leak spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The British energy giant now plans to load the 98-ton structure onto a boat at 'noon tomorrow' before shipping it out to the leak site. The dome, which is to be guided onto the largest of three oil leaks by remote-controlled submarines a mile down on the seabed, should be 'operational within six days,' Suttles said. Two weeks after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the full impact of the disaster is being realized as a massive slick looms off the US Gulf coast, threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of shoreline communities. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
A dead fish is seen on the beach May 5,
A dead fish is seen on the beach May 5, 2010 in Pass Christian, Mississippi as the gulf coast is still threatened by the oil spill from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster. Emergency crews rushed to protect fragile shorelines and islands as the Gulf of Mexico oil slick expanded, prompting a mobilization of more national guard troops and alerts as far as the Florida Keys. With oil still gushing Wednesday from the ruptured offshore well, volunteers and others descended on the region to help stave off a looming environmental crisis from the huge oil patch. AFP PHOTO/Stan Honda (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
Seagulls and other birds fly past oil booms that were placed in preparation of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Saturday, May 1, 2010, along the North Shore south of Venice, Louisiana. Wildlife in the region is vulnerable to the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. (Eric Gay, AP)
Bayou Candlelight Vigil Marks 100 Days Since BP Oil Spill
GRAND ISLE, LA - JULY 29: Local residents gather near an oil processing area on the beach to commemorate 100 days of the BP oil spill on July 29, 2010 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Eleven lives were lost and three to five million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the BP Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Eric Melerine sheds tears as he talks about possibly losing his fishing business, that has been in the family for genertions, if he can't continue to work because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 1, 2010 in Delacroix, Louisiana. As oil-polluted waters approach the Louisiana coast, fishermen don't want to take chances selling possibly contaminated crabs so they are pulling their traps and dumping their catches. Oil is still leaking out of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead at a estimated rate of 1,000-5,000 barrels a day. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
Massive Oil Spill's Damage To Gulf Environment And Economy Increases
WAVELAND, MS - JULY 09: An oil coated containment boom is seen close to the shore after it was moved out of place during the high winds and waves in the past days which brought oil ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico July 9, 2010 in Waveland, Mississippi. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Massive Oil Spill's Damage To Gulf Environment And Economy Increases
WAVELAND, MS - JULY 09: A worker uses a shovel to pick up oily globs that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico July 9, 2010 in Waveland, Mississippi. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
One of the New harbor Islands is protected by two oil booms against the oil slick that has passsed inside of the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands, as cleanup operations continue for the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster off Louisiana, on May 10, 2010. Days after failing to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with a giant dome, BP said it will make a second attempt this week using a smaller version dubbed the "top hat." A four-story, 100-ton box was lowered Friday to the seabed to try to capture most of the oil and allow it to be funneled up to a ship on the surface, but it was rendered useless on Sunday when ice crystals formed in its domed roof. BP experts believe the smaller "top hat" containment box would not suffer the same problem as it would not hold so much freezing cold seawater, and they are preparing to drop it into the inky depths to carry out a similar fix to what is unfolding as one the worst oil spills in US history. (Mark Ralston, AFP / Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
PORT FOURCHON, LA - JULY 03: Workers clear off some of the oil washing on to Fourchon Beach from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on July 3, 2010 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
GULFPORT, MS - JULY 1: Thick oil is seen washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on July 1, 2010 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
ORANGE BEACH, AL - JUNE 27: Workers place absorbent material on to the beach as oil residue washes ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 27, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Massive Oil Spill's Damage To Gulf Environment And Economy Increases
WAVELAND, MS- JULY 09: Workers clean up oily globs that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico July 9, 2010 in Waveland, Mississippi. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
ORANGE BEACH, AL- JUNE 27: Pete Duchock holds his daughter, Maddie Duchock, as they stand near oil residue that has stained the beach after washing ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 27, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Pete Duchock said his daughter cried after seeing the oil washing ashore when they arrived for their vacation. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Gulf Coast Battles Continued Spread Of Oil In Its Waters And Coastline
ORANGE BEACH, AL - JUNE 26: A beach goer walks on the beach where oil is seen in the water as it washes ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 26, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
BP CEO Tony Hayward Testifies Before House Hearing On Oil Spill
WASHINGTON - JUNE 17: BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is sworn in before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for a hearing on the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill June 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. BP agreed yesterday to place $20 billion into an escrow account managed by a third party to pay out claims resulting from the oil spill and also said it will not pay out additional dividends to shareholders for the remainder of the year. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Congress Holds Hearings On BP Oil Spill
WASHINGTON - JUNE 17: A protester is escorted from the hearing room after disrupting the hearing of BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward (R) on the Gulf Coast oil spill on Capitol Hill June 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Members of AnimaNaturalis with their bod
Members of AnimaNaturalis with their bodies covered with black paint protest against the oil spill of BP's drilling well in the Gulf of Mexico, on July 22, 2010 in Mexico city. Demostrators aim to alert people about the animals dying because of the oil spill and call to use less petrol. AFP PHOTO/ Omar TORRES (Photo credit should read OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images)
Bayou Candlelight Vigil Marks 100 Days Since BP Oil Spill
GRAND ISLE, LA - JULY 29: Cacinda Voisin (C) holds a balloon to comemorate the eleven lives lost and 100 days of the BP oil spill on July 29, 2010 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Three to five million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the BP Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Crosses with descriptions of fish, wildl
Crosses with descriptions of fish, wildlife and summer pastimes are displayed in a front yard of a home in Grand Isle, Louisiana, June 14, 2010, of things potentially lost to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
A support ship related to the collection
A support ship related to the collection of oil from over the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil well transitions through a sheen of oil as workers try to stem the flow of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, June 12, 2010. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Thick oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon
Thick oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill floats on the surface of the water and coats the marsh wetlands in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulphur, Louisiana, June 11, 2010. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Oil covered brown pelicans found off the
Oil covered brown pelicans found off the Louisiana coast and affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico wait in a holding pen for cleaning at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana, June 11, 2010. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
The glove-covered hands of Dan Howells,
The glove-covered hands of Dan Howells, deputy campaign director with Greenpeace, are coated with a layer of oil after he dipped them in oil floating on the surface in the Gulf of Mexico following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill near Grand Isle, Louisiana, June 10, 2010. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
An American flag lays in a slick of oil that washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on July 4, 2010 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The oil spill may have a huge negative economic impact on gulf coast businesses during what should be a busy 4th of July. Millions of gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
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A 2-foot-wide pipe in the Gulf of Mexico was ejaculating oil to the tune of half a million gallons a day. We went down to Louisiana over Memorial Day to see some of the damage this caused on the people and the environment.
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CAIN BURDEAU and JAY REEVES 05/24/12 09:29 AM ET Associated Press