News Release Distributed 06/19/10

CREOLE, La. – Fishermen worried about the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill met with several state and federal agencies to get answers Tuesday, June 15.

But officials could not answer the big question: Will oil spread west?

“That’s what everybody wants to know,” said Maurice Wolcott, LSU AgCenter geographic information systems specialist.

Shrimper Doug Ferks, of Cameron, said he’s worried because the Gulf of Mexico water currents tend to flow east to west.

So far, Wolcott said, the oil is staying on the east side of the state, and there’s no way to know if that will continue. “The shift of the oil has been more toward Mississippi and Florida,” he said

Wolcott said fishing closures that had extended west to Vermilion Bay have been lifted towards the Atchafalaya Bay, and the closure areas are changing daily.

Currently, he said, officials have opened all water control structures that can push Mississippi River water into the Gulf to protect the marshes.

Kevin Savoie, LSU AgCenter county agent in Cameron Parish, said prices for shrimp have increased because much of the offshore waters have been closed to fishing.

Leo Dyson, of Cameron, said southwest Louisiana has more than its share of shrimpers working the area waters, especially since the Texas shrimp season is currently closed.

Douglas Short, owner of a commercial fishing dock in Cameron, said the catch is below expectations.

“It’s just down,” Short said.

Short said he rebuilt his facility after it was destroyed by Hurricane Rita.

He said a client from St. Louis, Mo., recently came to buy a large amount of shrimp but left with a much smaller load. Short said he lost two key employees who went to work cleaning up the oil spill.

Kirk Burleigh, Cameron Parish Police Jury president, told the gathering of about 200 people that local, state and federal agencies are working together, along with BP, to be prepared in case the oil moves west.

Cathy Austin of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Houma command post said 11,000 people are currently working along the Gulf Coast. That includes the effort to prepare for a possible westward migration of oil.

“We want to make sure we are forward-leaning in case oil comes this way,” she said. “I want to assure you the Coast Guard is in charge of this cleanup.”

Neil Gary, a BP spokesman, said the corporation is working in Cameron Parish as well as parishes closer to the spill.

“BP will be here until it’s over,” he said.

Bruce Schultz