Fish Fighters

Father Sinclair Oubre has spent almost his whole life near the shrimping community of Port Arthur,Texas. “Growing up in a maritime community was important to me,” he says. He left Texas as a young man to attend Catholic University in Washington,D.C., and after earning a bachelors degree there, Father Sinclair went on to earn two more degrees Catholic University.

Marianne Cufone grew up playing in the ocean off the coast of New York and New Jersey. “I would immediately go running towards the ocean,” Marianne remembers, “and my parents would have to catch me because I was so young that I couldnt swim.”

Shawn Dochtermann of Kodiak, Alaska has worked with his father for 30 years hauling crab or halibut in a fishing boat.

“I’ve fished on six or seven other crab boats, but Ive always gone back to hanging out with my dad,” Shawn said. “It’s been rocky, but you take the good with the bad and it‚ not all about money. We enjoy being out there fishing in the fresh air, the camaraderie.”

“I went as a lark for three weeks to Alaska and I actually loved it,” Anne explained. She fished salmon on her own for many years, returning to fish with her father as he grew older. During 28 years at sea, Anne sometimes brought her children along with her.

Free-lance writer Alfredo Quarto was not excited to be writing about shrimp farms on his first trip to Thailand in 1992. Unfamiliar with the issue, the peace activist didnt expect it to capture his passion. However, he would soon discover the dark reality behind the tasty seafood, knowledge that would change his life forever.

Pietro‚ entrée into the world of activism began during his time as president of the local fishermen‚ association, when his ability to make a living as a fisherman was directly challenged. As part of plans to expand the Port of Oakland, shipping channels would be excavated and the material was to be dumped eleven miles from the fishing port of Half Moon Bay on productive fishing grounds. By the time Pietro found out of these plans, they were considered a done deal, despite the fact that not a single fisherman had been consulted.

In 2005, Margaret Curole’s husband, whose family had been Louisiana shrimpers for at least five generations, made the difficult decision to stop fishing. He is not alone in this decision. Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita, eighty percent of Louisiana shrimp boats are now either tied up, not working or for sale.

“At first I wasn’t interested in being involved in what I thought was an esoteric, save the whales campaign. I had been working with people who couldnt breathe because of the toxic pollution in their area. But, I came to realize the similarities between the battles to save the oceans and stop the poisoning of our bodies. The same mentality that multi-national companies putting profits before our health and economic justice were poisoning the health of the oceans which directly impacts the lives of people who depend on its resources.”

A single mother working construction on the Alaska pipeline, Paula was struggling to pull her life back together when she met her second husband.

“I didn’t know one end of a salmon from the other,” Paula said. “But we both shared a love of adventure. Dick and I just decided wed buy a permit, and wed buy a boat, and wed go fishing. And that‚ what we did.”

Twelve fishermen came to Jorge and told him how shrimp farms were polluting the waters where they fished and destroying the coasts where they lived. They asked him to help organize in opposition to the powerful shrimp farming industry. Jorge, whose research was already critical of these destructive practices, agreed to get involved.