Nearly three years after the catastrophic hurricanes of 2020, Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves says he’s frustrated the U.S. Department of Commerce has finally said there will be financial aid for Louisiana’s seafood industries to recoup revenue losses. He says the economic impact was tremendous on our fisheries and the process should not take this long.
“This is ridiculous. These fishing communities can not float this many years with the tough economic conditions that they’re already operating under.”
Louisiana’s seafood industry revenue loss from hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Zeta in 22 coastal parishes totaled over $155 million. Graves says these types of losses could threaten their livelihood.
“You have a community that lives down on the coast their boats, their homes, all of their docks and infrastructure, and everything associated with their occupation is destroyed.”
Graves says it’s critical that these disaster aids are dispersed soon.
“These communities have been challenged by foreign seafood being dumped in the United States, they’re undercutting prices, they’re using illegal chemicals. So it’s really a frustrating situation. This has got to be resolved as quickly as possible.”
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