Fisheries Impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Rex Caffey, Associate Professor LSU AgCenter & LA Sea Grant Focus on two things – the storm impacts to key fisheries resources, and the prevailing market conditions prior to these 2 storms

Shrimp Largest portion of the commercial fleet is the shrimp fishery Storms did not discriminate based on vessel size Some boats not damaged directly, rather indirectly by negative market factors compounded by the 2 storms

Shrimp Fleet disruption (sunk, destroyed, damaged, displaced) Southeast: 65-85% South Central: 10-15% Southwest: 60-80% Habitat damage – 100 square miles of coastal marsh? Very strong post-storm catches from remnant fleet Read and explain Dockside losses are for both Hurricanes and are derived from preliminary estimates by economists with the LSU Agricultural Center Slight decrease in dock prices, 30% increase in fuel costs Dockside revenue losses of $90.4 million

Shrimp: La Gear Licenses 42% Reduction Read and explain But is shrimp production declining? Not really, production in recent years has been strong, in fact per capita consumption of shrimp in U.S. is up 30% in last 5 years alone. Instead, prices of domestic shrimp are falling – at that’s what’s behind this trend

Processed Value Billions ($) Import Quantity Millions (lbs) Shrimp: U.S. Value & Imports Source: Diop, H. 2004 Processed Value Billions ($) Import Quantity Millions (lbs) Reduced prices can be partially illustrated by the reduction in U.S. processed shrimp value – from a peak of ~ 1.75 Billion in the mid 80’s to around 1 billion in recent years. Concurrently, imports of foreign shrimp – mostly farm raised – have increased from ~200 to 1200 million lbs during the same period. Imported shrimp now comprise more than 75% of U.S. shrimp consumption.

Crabs Taking a look at Crabs – this is a picture of some post-storm trap cleaning taken by Marty B. in the Cypermort Point area.

Crabs Mobile industry, low barriers to entry Very strong catches after the storms – lag effect? Decreasing dock prices, increasing in fuel costs Dockside revenue losses of $18.7 million Read and explain

Crabs: LA Resident Licenses Source: LDWF 2004 Fluid industry – responds quickly to market signals – potential for over-fishing

Oysters Explain

Oysters Estimated mortality from silt deposition Southeast: 50-70% South Central: 20-30% Southwest: 30-40% Precautionary closures, areas reopened as of 11/05 Sustained price increase due to Chesapeake? Note that LOTF claiming loss of 400 million lbs of in shell oysters Recovery plan has 45 recommendations, including calls for crop insurance access, funds for resurveying and reposting of leases, and a marketing campaign to combat misperceptions Louisiana Oyster Recovery Plan Dockside revenue losses of $27.5 million

Oysters – LA Resident Licenses Source: LDWF 2004 Reduction in oyster leaseholder licenses from near 3000 in 1990 to just over 1000 in the past decade. Reduction in prices after 20/20 scare and attempts to ban LA product

Crawfish Some of this water was pretty salty 6-7 ppt!

Crawfish Some saltwater damage in southernmost range of production: Lower Vermilion, Iberia, St. Martin. Semi-drought conditions pre-Katrina and post-Rita 30% increase in fuel costs Sept- Nov. Poor recruitment in fall sampling – short, late season Read /explain Loss of in-state markets could be big issue Production revenue losses of $38 million

Imports Millions (lbs Meat) Domestic Production Millions (lbs Live) Crawfish - LA Production & Imports Source: NMFS 2003 Imports Millions (lbs Meat) Domestic Production Millions (lbs Live) Note difference in live weight and processed weight – note loss of processing sector

Finfish From commercial – to recreational

Finfish Commercial losses: Menhaden: $25.2 million over coming year Other finfish: $14.7 million over coming year Capacity reduction for federally-permitted species Limited entry? Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ)? Vessel buy-out programs? Read/explain Charter boat industry heavily impacted $27 million in lost revenue over coming year

Finfish: Licensed Charter Guides Source: LDWF 2004 Number of Guides 90% are resident guides 65-70% are coastal – thus heavily impacted LCBA pursuing a $50K campaign “Fishing is back in LA” over coming months

Fisheries Infrastructure

Fisheries Infrastructure Vessels missing, damaged, in need of salvage Commercial: 1,800 – 3,500 Recreational: 30,000 – 40,000 Tremendous damage to fisheries infrastructure: docks, ice houses, processing, storage, markets Prices constrained by lack of cold-storage capacity Unknown damage to 110 seafood processors Note that many of these commercial vessels were not insured Bumble Bee shrimp cannery closed last week – capacity of 100,000 lbs day N.O. Cold Storage had 1 million CUFT of capacity – no longer available, existing cold storage units are maxed out Lack of processing and storage capacity will further depress prices and industry recovery LRA estimates that of 3,500 restaurants in N.O. area, only 26% had reopened as of November 30th Temporary/permanent loss of domestic retail outlets Seafood markets and dealers Of 3,500 New Orleans restaurants, 74% remain unopened as of 11/30 (La Restaurant Assoc.)

Prospects for Fisheries Recovery Despite habitat damages, stocks will recover in short-term Fishermen less resilient, will require assistance Federal Fisheries Disaster Declaration Emergency loans, state and federal grants, trade relief Capacity reduction : market-based and program-based 1-year economic impact for commercial and recreational Dockside revenue loss: $203.7 million Dockside plus retail losses $406 - $508 million Dockside losses are for both Hurricanes and are derived from preliminary estimates by economists with the LSU Agricultural Center Dockside plus retail based on an economic multiplier of 2-2.5. Infrastructure losses still unknown, likely to be major $ Strong recovery expected for recreational charter sector Continued decline expected in commercial shrimp sector

Hurricane Recovery Resources www.lsuagcenter.com www.laseagrant.org