Motivatit Seafoods lost electricity Tuesday night when Isaac hit. A reduced staff spent Wednesday morning putting product – 80,000 to 90,000 pounds of oysters – in refrigerated trucks and coolers packed with extra ice. The product is safely stored for several days but processing has shut down until fishing resumes. Photo: Louisiana Seafood Board
by Springfield Lewis/Louisiana Seafood News
With 40+ years in the Louisiana oyster industry, Mike Voisin assesses the impact of Hurricane Isaac, tempering it with the perspective of a businessman who’s dealt with many storms and a disaster or two.
With 40+ years in the Louisiana oyster industry, Mike Voisin assesses the impact of Hurricane Isaac, tempering it with the perspective of a businessman who’s dealt with many storms and a disaster or two. Photo: Louisiana Seafood News
From what he knows firsthand and news reports, the story of Isaac’s impact still is unfolding, says Voisin, chief executive of Motivatit Seafoods, one of the largest oyster processors in the United States.
“In the next seven days, we’ll have a much clearer picture,” according to him – as the eye of the hurricane just finished passing over his home in Houma, Louisiana, late Wednesday morning. He talked, waiting for the second half of the storm and hoping it would be less severe than the first.
Based on what he knew then, Voisin says:
- For probably the next couple of weeks, the fresh market for some species will be “dry.”
- Advance storm warning gave fishermen enough time to get their vessels to safe harbor inland.
- State health officials hopefully will be doing water sampling in oyster areas in the next few days.
Normally, within a week to 10 days, most oyster areas are reopened after a storm.
Fresh Market in Short Supply
The immediate impact is that fresh product will be in short supply after the storm. Photo: Louisiana Seafood News
Voisin has ridden out many a storm in Louisiana, including Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew. Often, a hurricane tears through the state in a few hours. The slow-moving Isaac, however, raged on longer, with winds of up to 85 to 90 mph.
“I’ve been through a lot of storms. This one seemed to have more intensity, lasting a longer period of time – from about 11 p.m. last night (Tuesday) till 8 or 9 a.m. this morning.”
Motivatit Seafoods lost electricity Tuesday night when Isaac hit. A reduced staff spent Wednesday morning putting product – 80,000 to 90,000 pounds of oysters – in refrigerated trucks and coolers packed with extra ice, waiting to regain power. For now, the product is safely stored for several days.
“The immediate impact is that fresh product will be in short supply after the storm.”
In the interim, some people will have frozen product, depending on the species, they can sell. During this time, Voisin doesn’t expect pricing for oysters to fluctuate much from the norm.
Fishing Vessels Reached Safety
In a hurricane, safe harbor is a must for any vessel – especially for fishermen whose livelihoods depend on their boats. And every storm is different.
Fisherman will once again be providing plenty of fresh oysters for the grill once waters are tested and actuaries opened. Photo: Louisiana Seafood News
With Hurricane Katrina, Voisin says fishermen thought they were in safe harbor. But in fact, they weren’t far enough inland to miss the storm surge. “We had boats all over the roads, next to bridges.”
Before Isaac hit landfall, fishermen had plenty of warning to reach safety and secure their vessels well beyond the hurricane’s 10-to-12-foot surge.
“For every mile you are from the coast, it breaks the storm surge down by about a foot,” Voisin points out. “So, if it’s a 10-foot storm surge (at the coast) and you can get in 10 miles, by the time it gets to you it going to be a tide rise.”
At Motivatit Seafoods in Houma, which is about 30 miles inland, Voisin had 20 vessels moored before Hurricane Isaac hit. “The only thing you have to worry about is the storm itself and flood waters.”
Based on what he knows, “so far so good” on oyster fishing vessels reaching safe harbor.
Reopening Oyster Beds
Because oysters are eaten as a raw product, shellfish areas are closed as a precaution before storms – which happened Monday throughout Louisiana.
If possible, state health officials will begin testing the water in oyster beds by this weekend or earlier, Voisin said. If problems exist in certain areas, they could be kept closed. A storm surge, with its debris, can suffocate oysters. Also, extensive drainage or wash-off from the land can cause pollution.
If the water is good, then oyster fishermen usually are given a day to check the bottom and their beds for damage. Normally, things are relatively back to normal in a couple of weeks, he says.
“We produce in Louisiana about 250 million in-shell pounds of oysters a year,” says Voisin, an eighth-generation oysterman.
Hurricane Isaac, or any other storm for that matter, won’t deter him and Louisiana’s oyster fishermen from harvesting their catch.
The post Preparation Pays Off – Oyster Industry’s Story Still Unfolding appeared first on Louisiana Seafood News.