To Eat or Not to Eat

To Eat or Not to Eat

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Today Brandon Sutton and I visited Bon Secour, Alabama where the fisheries industry has taken a huge blow from something other than a hurricane. The oil spill has crippled many businesses but possibly none continue to suffer so much as commercial fishermen and women.

Two of the three retail seafood outlets we visited had customers. The shrimp in Aquilla Seafood were so beautiful it was difficult to think of them as being tainted with anything. And the flounder at Billy’s looked great. How could anything so perfect-looking be anything but delicious. And that’s the dilemma many people face as they try to decide whether to buy Gulf seafood.

Our third stop was a random visit brought about by the sign, “Joe the Shrimp Man” seen on a county road as we were driving to the Gulf. I turned around and drove down a curvy road until it dead-ended into Joe’s small shop. His wife Cheryl greeted us. We asked her how business was going for them and she told us Joe was down the road working on his boat and might be willing to talk with us.

We drove back to the dock where the Miss Ashlee was being rigged for shrimping tonight. Joe shared the story that we’ve heard from so many commercial fishermen about no demand for Gulf Coast seafood and the trials that many of the shrimpers, oystermen, crabbers and gill netters have faced since the Deepwater Horizon exploded.

As I listened to his story, I felt torn about eating seafood. I have personally witnessed horrific petroleum pollution during the past year and have watched marine life struggle, so eating seafood was never really an option. But today, after looking at shrimp, oysters and fish at these retails outlets and after hearing Joe’s story, I felt torn. I want so badly to support these men and women by becoming a consumer once again. But what I’ve seen in the Gulf…what about that? Even with the smell tests done by safety checks on seafood….how can I be sure? How can anyone be sure that the seafood is safe?

I see the livelihood of families evaporating. Minh Le shared, in our visit to Coden, Alabama yesterday, that fishermen and others who work in the seafood industry are struggling to put food on their table. There is so much suffering, so much pain to endure for many who live on the Gulf Coast. How can we make reasonable decisions regarding purchasing seafood from the Gulf?

After an hour and a half visit with Joe and his crew, we got back in the car, eager to eat a late lunch. I looked at Brandon and said, “I know this is crazy, but I want fried shrimp.” He was in agreement so we back-tracked to a seafood restaurant where we enjoyed local shrimp, lima beans with andouille sausage and collards.

Because of what I’ve witnessed, I can’t eat seafood regularly. But the inner conflict within me is great.

6 Replies to “To Eat or Not to Eat”

  1. Pingback: Shrimping in Alabama | Spirit of the Gulf Coast

  2. I understand completely. I do feel eating the seafood, oh it’s hard for me to say, but I don’t think eating seafood every once in a while is dangerous to our health. But seafood on the top of my list as it use to be will be a very long time coming. I still have not eaten the seafood. Crabmeat is my favorite! Just can’t do it.

  3. Thanks for putting this out there, Simone. I felt this same thing on Grand Isle last August. It’s hard to be face-to-face with the locals and hear over and over again how much their lives have been turned upside down by the lack of market for seafood. And yes, it is tempting to want to feast on the delicious bounty that the Gulf provides.

    It’s too bad the testing process wasn’t as thorough and transparent in the early stages as it could have been. Now, I have no faith at all in the testing methodology, because it was clearly not well executed in the beginning. Total failure of the government to act on behalf of the citizenry in my opinion.

    It was nice to share that meal with you though. 🙂

  4. I was raised as a shrimper daughter and I ate gulf seafood my whole life! It saddens me to see this has happen to our fisher men and shrimpers! I eat gulf seafood and yes I worry but I support my Bon Secour families all the way!!!

  5. I THINK THIS NEEDS TO BE FORWARDED TO MR. FEINBERG, LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE THAT DEPEND ON OUR GULF COASTAL WATERS TO MAKE A LIVING SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE TOP OF HIS LISTS OF PEOPLE TO FOLLOW UP ON , AND SEEN THAT THEY WERE WELL COMPENSATED…NOT ONLY FINANCIALLY, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING….NO ONE REALLY KNOWS THE LONG TERM ISSUES THAT WE ALL MAY ENDURE, …………THE MENTAL IMPACT OF ALL THIS IS DEALT WITH ON A DAILY BASIS, AMONGST EACH OTHER…….AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THIS WAY, UNTIL WE ARE ALL NOTHING BUT PART OF A DEAD….HISTORY….JUST PART OF SOMEONES STORY……THANKYOU FOR THIS ARTICLE, YOU CAN TELL IT’S BEING TOLD BY SOMEONE WITH A HEART…..<3 AND BLESSINGS TO ALL!

  6. I feel such concern and compassion for our fishermen and women. Their lives are spent closer to the marine resources than any of us and thus they are affected deeply by not only the actual resource itself (water quality, shrimp, crab, oyster and fish quality) but physically they have been affected greatly by the toxins released by the crude oil and dispersants. I am horrified that BP could settle out of court and get away with the rape and pillage they are committed here.

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