Louisiana ‘way of life’ at risk as oil spill threatens fishing grounds FEATURE 05/03/2010

Louisiana ‘way of life’ at risk as oil spill threatens fishing grounds

FEATURE 05/03/2010 VENICE — As a sea of crude oil threatens to wash away her livelihood, Margaret Legnon stares at the boats sitting idle in the docks and wonders how long her coastal Louisiana fishing town can get by. Not to mention what all those shrimp and crab lovers in New York and Detroit and Los Angeles will do if one of the nation’s largest sources of wild seafood is poisoned. “It’s going to be ugly,” Legnon says of the looming environmental and economic disaster. Louisiana’s fragile wetlands are prime breeding grounds for the fish, crab and shrimp which support a $2.4 billion a year commercial and recreational fishing industry. Already badly damaged by decades of coastal erosion and the ravages of Hurricane “Katrina” in 2005, many here worry the marshes which have supported their way of life for generations will be destroyed by the epic oil spill. .... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100503com5.html

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