I spent all day in the store trying to grasp what our role will be in the habitat oiling prevention and cleanup arenas . I found that there are lot of boats in the “Vessels of Opportunity” Program that have been “activated” out practicing today , looking for oil and familiarizing themselves with the bay .Rumors are flying, people with little or no interest in the bay are collecting checks , and that in turn has made it difficult for folks that truly rely on this resource to get help. Unfortunately the locals that know the bay best , the oystermen, have vessels that are subsistence boats and will not stand the type of work they are now hired for . The inshore Charter fishermen have a much better chance of making a few weeks of work .The non locals that say they’re boats are located here are collecting monies that should remain in the hands of locals . BP cannot discern who is who. The pay and handouts from BP are causing some locals that dont work or have unrelated jobs to get saltwater products licenses one day and collecting 5k checks from BP the next . Human nature is rearing its sometimes ugly side . We have such a pristine resource to protect here , and its so taxing to see it managed in a haphazard way . Our goal at Wefings is to stay in business so my staff can have careers they can count on . Maybe there will be an opportunity to replace our normal businesses . Maybe folks will take a long ,long time to return and we will all have to reconfigure our lives and business models . It very stressful for all . Just trying to cope, be smart and be open to find ways to help .I might be going on my last offshore fishing trip for the foreseeable future tomorrow. That makes me sad , cause I know its a very real possibility .
Marc
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