Crab Processor Takes Hit

Although this video was recorded in late June, I've added it here because it has many of the same sentiments that Kenny DiNero expressed in his interview. Here's the description of the clip from the producer.

Dennis Landry, owner of a prosperous (until this massive toxic dump by British Petroleum) wholesale crab processing operation in Larose, La., is potentially facing financial ruin because of the British Petroleum oil dump into the Gulf of Mexico. Like all the residents of South Louisiana, Dennis is NOT AGAINST OIL AND GAS, he and his neighbors just want it done right, with proper and effective safeguards and regulation, so that the fertile fisheries upon which about half the population depends for their livelihoods and family sustenance, can continue to survive and provide their generous bounty to the hard working people of South Louisiana.

Maybe it's just me, but I sense a similar frustration in this video as I did with Kenny and others that I've talked with off camera. There is still a real danger that operations like Dennis' and Kenny's will go out of business until the world believes that the seafood in the Gulf is safe to eat, and no one knows how long that is going to take.

More Fishermen Feeling Pain

I have tried to keep politics out of this blog because I have no agenda beyond telling the stories of people living with the BP oil spill. Yes, the spill has a host of political implications but they are outside the scope of the Little Red Tar Balls project. As such, when I received a link to a video produced by the Coffee Party, I watched with an eye out for some political agenda or point of view. I didn't see one save the full screen at the end. But they want to build their movement and that is completely reasonable. (I would have viewed a link from someone in the Tea Party or any other political group with the same circumspection.)

That aside, this video, produced in mid-July,  tells the story of some in the Gulf Coast Vietnamese fishing community in their own words with additional comments from Kaitlin Truong, the Chair for the group "Asian Americans for Change". The piece is well done and helps tell the broader story of what life is like in this region, right now.



Thanks to Kaitlin Truong for the video and Krystal Allan of WLOX TV for the connection and the ongoing moral support.