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Crabbers feeling impact of month-long crab ban

7 years 3 weeks 6 days ago Wednesday, March 01 2017 Mar 1, 2017 March 01, 2017 5:34 PM March 01, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE – Lent and seafood go hand-in-hand, however crab fisherman have to sit out due to the state-wide crab ban.

Local crab fishermen say, with just seven days into the ban, they are feeling a dent to their bank accounts.

"A lot of people at our place are pulling in right now in Baton Rouge they're looking for them there and my wife's having to turn them down," fisherman Whitney Curole said.

Customers are either changing up their menus or buying from out of state. The ban is for thirty days and officials say the crabs need to replenish themselves.

However, Curole says that he does not believe the ban will work.

"If you can't fight it, stop making laws against commercial crabbers when you know already what the problem is.They agree that it's the fish, the biologists agree that it's the fish, the crab task force agrees that it's the fish," Curole said.

With the weather warming up, Curole says there is a greater chance of catching crabs, however it is an opportunity he has no choice but to pass up.

"I really should be crabbing," he said.

It is the first time Curole has been forced away from the waters and he is concerned that it may happen again.

"Politicians and most people who don't fish crabs are going to say, "well maybe the season wasn't closed for long enough, maybe we need to close it for two months,'"Curole said.

Curole saidthat the price of crab may increase shortly after the ban comes to an end until local fisherman can get back on their feet.

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