July 23, 2023 — On the inviting teal-colored water in the shipping channels off the coast of southern Louisiana, Phillip “Rooster” Dyson pilots his bright red shrimp boat named Papa’s Shadow through a landscape he no longer recognizes.
His practiced gaze sweeps over the water, but very little remains of the small fishing community of Cameron, where he has lived all his 40 years. The rickety wooden social clubs, bars, homes, and colorful shrimping boats are gone, most of it replaced by giant liquid natural gas terminals, and many more are planned for Louisiana’s fragile coast
The shrimp are also more challenging to find these days.
“It costs $400 just to take the boat out,” he said in his strong Southern southern accent, adding that July can often be a slow month for shrimp. “But this is the slowest it’s ever been. I’m not sure if I can buy the things my kids need for school right off the bat [and] pay utilities.”
Not more than a decade ago, when Dyson bought his first boat, he could make $5800 a day trawling for shrimp in the channels close to his home but also far out in the rich vastness of the Gulf of Mexico.