Saudis come to rescue of embattled Bayou shrimp fleet
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Author: Russ Henderson (The Mobile Register)
Released 4 January 2006
ALABAMA, December 30, 2005 - Hurricane-walloped shrimpers in Alabama stand to get relief in the coming months from a seemingly improbable benefactor -- the government of Saudi Arabia.
Starting early next year, shrimp boat owners will be able to hand vouchers to fuel dock owners for free diesel fuel, about $1.2 million worth in all, paid for through the world's largest oil producer, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
"I know, Saudi Arabia. It seems kind of strange. But they've been very kind and gracious to us," said Ernie Anderson, president of the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama, which will administer the Saudi gift. "We all hope this will kick-start the economy down here."
Through their government-owned oil conglomerate, the Saudis have quietly donated "tens of millions" of dollars worth of goods to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, said Rob Arndt, spokesman for Saudi Aramco.
The company in 2004 reported $116 billion in annual revenue.
Tents were bought for Gulf Coast families just after Katrina. Later on, "starter kits" of bed linens and new pots and pans were given to families moving into federally provided travel trailers. And recently, the company purchased portable classrooms for schools in Houston and New Orleans, all of it "with a minimum of publicity," Arndt said.
"The point is not to make us look good, but to simply do some good," he said.
Alabama, for its part, will get funds for about 600,000 gallons of diesel fuel for shrimp trawlers. That amount is industry leaders' estimate of the diesel used by all state shrimp trawlers in an average month.
The Seafood Association is setting up a system with vendors, who will take the association's vouchers, for which the association will then be reimbursed by Saudi Aramco, Anderson said. That system will include fuel sellers in the Bayou, on Dauphin Island, in Bon Secour, Mobile and other locations, Anderson said.
The association mailed the first fuel voucher applications Thursday to the 244 Alabama shrimpers who, according to state records, were hauling shrimp to local docks during the three months before the hurricane. Other applications were placed at local fuel docks and seafood processing businesses, he said.
To qualify, a shrimper must submit, among other things, vessel registration information, copies of dock receipts indicating landings in Alabama during June, July or August 2005, copies of diesel fuel receipts and an estimate of the vessel's average monthly fuel usage.
Applications are due by Jan. 15. The association hopes to issue the first vouchers by the end of January, Anderson said. The association will issue them a little at a time over the following six months through a $100,000 credit line at Regions Bank, he said. The association will pay the estimated $10,000 in interest the project will cost, he said.
The idea to "jump-start" Alabama's coastal economy first came from Gov. Bob Riley, Arndt said.
Shortly after Katrina, Saudi Aramco officials were instructed by the Saudi government to act as a conduit for charitable government donations, he said. Soon, company representatives met with the governors of the Gulf Coast states to identify potential needs.
"Gov. Riley pointed us in the direction of Bayou La Batre and the shrimping industry," Arndt said. After talking to city and business leaders in the Bayou, the company decided to administer the aid through the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama.
Bayou La Batre was one of the hardest-hit areas in Alabama during Katrina. The storm flooded more than half of the city's structures, leaving more than 1,000 of its 2,300 residents homeless and beaching 72 shrimping vessels. There are about 300 vessels in the Bayou fleet in the best of times, a number that varies with the fishing economy.
The seafood industry, the Bayou's principal source of income, was suffering long before Katrina with low dockside shrimp prices and high diesel costs.
Anderson said that at the least, the Saudi-provided fuel will enable shrimpers to make long-needed repairs. The money saved on fuel, by far a fisherman's largest expense, can be spent on new netting, rigging, needed engine and hull repairs.