Less lemons and more outof necessity actually. Kevin Voisin, eighth generation oyster-man, Motivatit Seafood VP and a Terrebonne Parish councilman, is behind Horizon Relief, a project to collect donations for out-of-work deckhands, shrimp-factory workers, dock workers and oyster shuckers.
Any size donation is welcome, but those who give $1,000 or more will get a Bottle of Hope filled with oil-contaminated Gulf of Mexico water collected by cleanup workers. As Kevin notes with storm chaser irony (minus the glee), “There’s a tragic beauty in the oil.” FedEx shipping issues aside, the idea came out of a company brainstorm session where everyone was trying to figure out ways to help workers.
Imagine being forced out of an industry that likely won’t recover for years, not because you didn’t evolve with the technological advances made in it, but because of some manmade tragedy. Growing up on Long Island Sound, it hits home. Connecticut shellfish industry was itself a casualty of disease due to contamination in 1997 and only now considered to be in recovery. Then look at the extent of the damage by the Exxon Valdez disaster and it’s hard to imagine how long the Gulf’s fishing industry will be out of commission.
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