Seafood restaurants fear consequences of Katrina

While everyone else worried about high gasoline prices as a result of Hurricane Katrina this week, Peter Finkhauser was thinking about shrimp.

“The Mexican Gulf is a major supplier of shrimp,” said Mr. Finkhauser, owner of Louisiana Express, a Cajun restaurant in Bethesda.

The Gulf Coast is a primary source for the nation’s shrimp. Smaller amounts of crabs, oysters and redfish also come from the waters off Louisiana.

The high winds and tides that devastated coastal communities also shut down the Gulf Coast fishing industry.

“I’m sure we’re going to feel the effect,” Mr. Finkhauser said about his restaurant.

The storm surge caused severe damage to ports in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Wind and water also smashed shrimp and fishing boats, at least temporarily crippling the Gulf’s multimillion-dollar fishing industry.

Damage estimates have not been tallied.

Fishing industry groups in the area that suffered the worst damage were unavailable for comment.

With phone service still down, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board in New Orleans and the Louisiana Shrimp Association in Grand Isle did not answer their telephones.

Officials at the Maryland Watermen’s Association said although some restaurants are likely to turn to Atlantic Coast seafood as an alternative, the greater danger is damage to the entire commercial fishing industry.

“If we did gain a little bit of market, we can supply only so many crabs,” said Larry Simns, president of the group. “It’s just a shock to the whole industry what happened there.”

Typically, watermen supply restaurants with seafood from the Mid-Atlantic Coast only during warm months, before colder temperatures shut them down.

In the winter, much of the seafood for Washington-area restaurants comes from the Gulf Coast.

“What they pick down there and shuck down there, gets sent up here,” said Mr. Simns, referring to food-processing plants that pull crab and oyster meat from shells.

Shrimp is not harvested from the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

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