Hundreds of shrimpers demand hearings to determine why they are paid so little while their catches sell for so much. It is told that nearly 300 commercial fishermen staged a protest on the steps of Louisiana’s State Capitol, accusing industry middlemen of conspiring to push dockside prices down to never-before-seen levels for greater profit.
Shrimpers have already battled cheap imports but this time they have to face new threat of price fixing. U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon D-Napoleonville, told the protesters congressional hearings could be held as soon as September. He told that the authority is going to find out the middle men who are taking money off the shrimp.
Earl Ronquillo, whose shrimping operation is based in Buras, said the same $4-per-pound, 10-count shrimp consumers buy from their local markets are netting him only 45 to 75 cents per pound at the dock, down from about $2.50 last year. Other industry sources, including those with close ties to processors, confirm that prices are flat.
But difficulties with the shrimp market at a time when the U.S. is still in economic turmoil, some said, have resulted in the low prices. Charlie Smith, a Baton Rouge lobbyist who represents commercial-fishing interests, said shrimpers want state officials to investigate whether there’s price-fixing going on, which would indicate a conspiracy between seafood brokers and others to bring prices down.
David Chauvin, who operates his own shrimp boat and whose Mariah Jade Shrimp Co., buys and sells shrimp from Terrebonne Parish, said shrimpers’ time would be better spent pushing for new laws, like one that would require restaurants to disclose where their shrimp come from.
