Tracy Kuhns and Mike Roberts
Tracy Kuhns and Mike Roberts
Home Port: Barataria, LA
Vessel Name: Fatty Matty
Vessel Type: 34 foot Lafitte Skiff
Fisheries participated in: shrimp, crab
Gear Used: skimmer nets
Michael has been a fisherman for over 35 years. He and Tracy have dedicated their lives to protecting and preserving the natural resources, traditional coastal fishing life and the communities of coastal Louisiana. The BP Oil Spill has altered their community and way of life immensely.
They are founding members of the Association of Family Fisherman and also formed the Louisiana Bayoukeeper to work on water quality and habitat impacts on fisheries in Louisiana’s Bayou country. The Louisiana Bayoukeeper is a licensed member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which supports member organizations as they work to monitor, restore and protect the environmental health of watersheds around the world.
There are many problems facing the Gulf of Mexico region at this point, including mega-impacts from the BP Oil spill, coastal erosion, water quality including sewage and other pollution impacts, wetlands loss, and freshwater diversions. The fishermen of the area were concerned that fisheries management was only focusing on fishing impacts and not taking into consideration the ecological importance of water quality and habitat. Both Tracy and Mike realized that if protecting and restoring water quality and habitat are not a priority, a fishery can collapse regardless of the limits set on commercial take. Thus the Bayoukeeper organization was formed to protect the ecological balance and health of the bayou and waterways that the fishermen’s livelihood and culture depends on.
“Life for people on the Bayou is still tied to the natural resources and the cycles of the earth,” Tracy says. “Daily life revolves around the tides, moon, and seasons. If the health of the natural resources collapses, the entire community collapses. The local economy is totally dependent on healthy natural resources. Life in fishing communities is about connections, connection to the natural resource, family and community, which is increasingly hard to find in a 9-5 world. I am worried about the younger generation and the people with young families. “But even the older guys are having a hard time– what else are they going to do at this age? Is our way of life going to be over forever? My grandson loves shrimping, crabbing, fishing and being on the boat. It is who he is. He wants to grow up and build a life on the bayou. It has been heartbreaking to see my grandchildren and the other families not be able to go on the boat and swim in the bayou.”
Bayoukeeper partners with Tulane University on a variety of projects to enhance the health of the bayou. Starting in the Fall of this year, students will work with Tracy and Mike to do research on and build a database of ecologically and economically important fisheries of the region. This project is important to start to measure the impacts of the BP Oil Spill and the dispersants used in the clean up on the health of the ecosystem. “ The information the students and I will be gathering will be important to fishermen,” Tracy continues, “as they try to pick up the pieces and create a business plan for the coming years. As we have seen from the Exxon Valdez spill the effects on the fisheries can last for a long while. Meanwhile, the oil company BP wants to settle out the fishermen’ s claims and move on. But how do you do that if you don’t know the long or short term impacts? More research is necessary so that the fishermen can make educated life decisions for themselves and their community.”
“Tracy, what is the best way to help your community in the wake of the oil spill?”
“Money is always needed, if folks can afford it. But, equally important, when we need help on the federal level and put out a call to ask people to support us, people can make that call or send a postcard to their state’ s federal legislative delegation. So many people are sick from exposure; bad air, cough, headaches, and respiratory and staph infections. We need community health care centers. Oil and dispersant is mixed in the air and water and every man, woman and child has been breathing it. ”
[Contact Tracy to get on the Bayoukeeper's email list]
“Why is it important to you to keep the profession of commercial fishing alive in this country?”
“Without commercial fishing there is a breakdown of the entire community and family social structure and culture. Our communities and families have a history that is steeped in their connection to our natural resources. We will lose a sustainable economic and social structure and destroy the traditional culture and community if we lose the commercial fishing heritage.”
Click here to read Micheal Roberts’ account of the BP Oil Spill, “Summer of Tears.”
