Plaquemines Parish fishers are frustrated and angry about their future as they watch hundreds of thousands of gallons of BP oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico and wash ashore along miles of South Louisiana coastline.
But the disaster will not stop them from honoring their profession and culture at the Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival this weekend.
"Here we are in dire straits, and I think if we give up on our festival, we’re giving up on our fishermen and industry," said Keith Hinkley, director of the festival and a Plaquemines Parish council member.
Residents who ordinarily would be pulling fish, crabs and oysters from the waters these days are coping with the daily reports about which areas are open to fishing, attending community meetings and taking jobs using their vessels to contain the oil that began spilling into the Gulf on April 20 after a deadly explosion sunk the Deepwater Horizon rig 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.
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