The BP oil spill has devastated the lives and livelihoods of fisher communities in the Gulf of Mexico. We were among the fishers of Biloxi city whose lives are in misery after the oil spill in 2010.
"We used to catch Oyster and Shrimp in our boat. We spend 7 days in a boat trip. We are 3 in our boat and we can hardly earn 3000 Dollars which is nett loss for us. That is because we lost our catch with the oil spill." Says Tony Lee, a Vietnam-American fisherman and the captain of the boat in the back water dock in Biloxi.
"These fishermen are undergoing very hard time. Their expenses are several thousands starting from 20,000 Dollars for the boat. Adding to that the fuel cost and expenses for ice and other basic expenses push those fishermen's lives in to misery as their earnings went down drasticaly. Adding to that the situation became worse as the Shrimp coming from India and Thailand are cheaper in US markets." Says Thao Vu, the director of Missisipi Coalition for Vietnamese-American Fisherfolk Families based in Biloxi city.
"The Vietnam-American fishermen though they are several hundreds in number in 3 docs in Biloxi, there is no any union formed for their collective bargaining. But they are encouraged to form a cooperative society for collective bargaining." Added Thao.
The fishing communities are losing their grounds, sea and water bodies all over the world. Uniting them and fight for the rights collectively is the only way to survive.
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