Buoyancy on the Bayou

Ann. Harrison Jill

Description

Over the past several decades, shrimp has transformed from a luxury food to a kitchen staple. While shrimp-loving consumers have benefited from the lower cost of shrimp, domestic shrimp fishers have suffered, particularly in Louisiana. Most of the shrimp that we eat today is imported from shrimp farms in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. The flood of imported shrimp has sent dockside prices plummeting, and rising fuel costs have destroyed the profit margin for shrimp fishing as a domestic industry.In Buoyancy on the Bayou, Jill Ann Harrison portrays the struggles that Louisiana shrimp fishers endure to remain afloat in an industry beset by globalization. Her in-depth interviews with more than fifty individuals working in or associated with shrimp fishing in a small town in Louisiana offer a portrait of shrimp fishers' lives just before the BP oil spill in 2010, which helps us better understand what has happened since the Deepwater Horizon disaster.Harrison shows that shrimp fishers go through a careful calculation of noneconomic costs and benefits as they grapple to figure out what their next move will be. Many willingly forgo opportunities in other industries to fulfill what they perceive as their cultural calling. Others reluctantly leave fishing behind for more lucrative work, but they mourn the loss of a livelihood upon which community and family structures are built. In this gripping account of the struggle to survive amid the waves of globalization, Harrison focuses her analysis at the intersection of livelihood, family, and community and casts a bright light upon the cultural importance of the work that we do.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Luisiana
• Sociology
• Types of rural communities
• Louisiana

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801465796
• Langue: English

Extrait

BuoyancyontheBayou

BuoyancyontheBayou

ShrimpersFacetheRisingTide of Globalization

JillAnnHarrison

ILR Press animprintof CornellUniversityPress IthacaandLondon

Copyright © 2012 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2012 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2012 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Harrison, Jill Ann, 1977–  Buoyancy on the bayou : shrimpers face the rising tide of globalization / Jill Ann Harrison.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801450747 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 9780801478338 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Shrimp industry—Louisiana. 2. Shrimpers (Persons)— Louisiana. 3. Shrimp fisheries—Louisiana. 4. Globalization— Economic aspects—Louisiana. I. Title.  HD9472.S63U5263 2013  338.3  72538809763—dc23 2012023311

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www. cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing Paperback printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Ryan and Henry

Acknowledgments

Contents

Prologue 1.SettingSail:WhatWeCanLearnfrom Louisiana Shrimp Fishers 2.Identity:TheStruggletoStayAfloat

3.Loss:JumpingShipforHigherGround

4.Innovation:ChangingCourseonChoppyWaters

5.Docked:TheUncertainFuturesofShrimp Fishers in the PostBP Oil Spill Era

MethodologicalAppendix Notes Bibliography Index

ix

1

11 42 89 111

143

157 165 173 181

Acknowledgments

OneofthefirstwordsIlearnedduringmyinitialfewdaysofliving on the bayou waslagniappe(pronouncedlanyaplnommocygnLa.)iseppia used to describe that little something extra given out of kindness. Meta phorically, it is the thirteenth roll in a baker’s dozen. It is also a word that keeps crossing my mind as I think about the research and writing pro cesses that have resulted in this book. There are numerous individuals who generously provided me with lagniappe, which facilitated this project’s completion. I am especially grateful to those current and former shrimp fishers and their families who generously shared with me their thoughts about their livelihoods and provided me with many delicious meals. I am particularly thankful to those whom I call “June and Herbert Batiste” and their family, who provided me with a place to stay and an immeasurable amount of assistance with this project. This book could not have been com pleted without them. I also thank Reuben Teague for his generous hospi tality whenever I’d visit the great city of New Orleans during my research.