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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 5
January 2006
Groups deliver funds to hurricane-stricken fishermen
GULFPORT, MS - Representatives of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) delivered both cash and hope to 25 fishermen and their families in hurricane-devastated Gulfport, MS just before Christmas.
“The people were so appreciative,” said Craig Pendleton, NAMA coordinating director. “They couldn’t believe we cared.”
NAMA, along with some 15 other organizations, including nine New England commercial fishing associations, raised a total of $24,835 for its Hurricane Katrina Fishermen’s Relief Fund.
St. Joseph’s Credit Union in Saco, ME handled the money at no charge and even pitched in the $165 needed to round the figure up to an even $25,000. That allowed NAMA to distribute the relief funds in the form of 25 $1,000 microgrants.
Mike Crocker, NAMA’s communication director, explained that the alliance decided it wanted to direct the money to an area that hadn’t received a lot of media attention and wound up working closely with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MSDMR).
The agency asked Gulfport-area commercial fishermen to fill out a survey and then culled through the returned forms to identify the 25 individuals who most needed help.
Pendleton and Crocker flew into Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Dec. 15 and then drove to Gulfport. What they witnessed during the 60-mile trip was utter annihilation.
“It’s not what you saw on TV. It’s way worse,” Pendleton said. “They had a 35-foot storm surge. We saw two boats in the middle of these woods. They had been picked up by the surge, sent over the tops of trees, and dumped there. Everything was just destroyed.”
As stunning as those sights were, Pendleton and Crocker also were really shocked by the lack of cleanup progress. Other then some power company trucks, they saw little evidence of a significant recovery response.
The Gulf Coast Community Federal Credit Union hosted the relief presentation on Dec. 16, which was attended by fishermen, their wives and children, and MSDMR officials. Even there, six or seven miles inland, the credit union building had sustained damage.
Each check was handwritten by Pendleton on the hurricane relief fund account established by NAMA and enclosed in a card listing all of the contributing associations. He had the opportunity to hand them, one by one, to the recipients.
It was an emotional experience.
“We saw everything that happened down there with our own eyes,” Crocker said. “This was the first money any of them had gotten from anyone, and no one has had a paycheck since the hurricane.”
Hurricane Katrina happened on Aug. 29.
NCFA helps
The North Carolina Fisheries Association (NCFA) also collected funds for hurricane relief and directed them to Mississippi fishing families.
“We raised over $3,000 and sent it to the Biloxi area via a local seafood business,” said NCFA Executive Director Sean McKeon.
The funds were distributed in the form of $100 Wal-Mart gift cards, selected so that families could use them for food, household supplies, and/or gifts for Christmas.
“The cards were delivered by one of members who was going down to Biloxi with toys for kids,” McKeon said.
As often happens, the giving experience itself was powerful for the people involved.
Said Pendleton, “With all the bad stuff we have to deal with, it’s nice to be able to do something good.”
Lorelei Stevens
Pictured at top of page: NAMA representatives deliver $25,000 in donated funds to hurricane-stricken fishermen in Gulfport, MS. From left, Craig Pendleton, NAMA coordinating director; Bill Walker, MSDMR executive director; Joe Jewel, MSDMR program director; and Mike Crocker, NAMA communications director.
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