« October 2005 Table of Contents 
Editor's Note: Taking care of our own
Fiona Robinson
October 01, 2005
In
times of crisis, the seafood industry takes care of its own. Within a few days
of Hurricane Katrina’s making landfall in the Gulf, organizations across the
country had established relief efforts to help fishermen and processors.
SeaShare
started coordinating industry-relief efforts in the form of product, freight,
cold storage, packaging and monetary donations. The Fishermen’s Relief Fund,
organized by the Fish for the Future Foundation, was established to provide aid
directly to fishing, processing and related industries in the affected areas.
These are just a couple of the relief efforts supporting fishermen and
processors in the Gulf (for more information on Katrina assistance, see the Top
Story sidebar on page 28).
SeaFood
Business, in partnership with the National Fisheries Institute, established the
Gulf Coast Message Board at www.seafoodbusiness.com/gulfcoast. Early posts on
the bulletin board were by people looking for commercial fishermen and
processors who were still missing. A few weeks later, posts turned to
information-swapping about Gulf Coast companies that were back in business.
Some offered processors technical assistance with onsite housing for workers
who had no homes to return to. Information is still being posted to the board
to support fishermen and processors in the region.
The
devastation and trauma created by weather-related events such as Katrina and
the Southeast Asia tsunami or man-made events like 9/11 are overwhelming. Those
not directly affected by catastrophe forget the pain and suffering the
survivors endure. But many Katrina survivors are still living day-to-day, their
homes and livelihoods destroyed. It will be a long time until the
infrastructure is reestablished to support fishermen and seafood processors.
The relief efforts in the coming months may not be
limited to helping the folks in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. As this
issue went to the printer, Hurricane Rita had whipped by Key West, Fla., and
upgraded to a Category-5 storm headed for Texas. If your company hasn’t already
donated money or goods to the relief effort, now is the time to help your
friends in the industry. There may come a time when that favor will be
returned.
