Ethnic Fishing Communities Hurt by Oil Spill
Fisherman Kin Van Nguyen was up early this morning but not to fish. Along with other Vietnamese fishermen, he was applying for food stamps. There are about 32,000 Vietnamesse who live on the Gulf and rely on fishing. Nguyen had a message for BP through an interpreter.
"Tell them to hurry up and stop the spill so we can get back to work," he said.
Louisiana's finishing community wants to work again, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. This diverse community is almost as diverse as the fish they catch.
Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf
Roy Harvey has caught oysters here for 35 years. And he still can in one of the few waters still open for fishing.
A ban has closed more than a third of the Gulf's fishing waters. Vlaho Mjehovich, a Croatian oysterman, says he's reeling. "It's just the anxiety. You don't know what to do with yourself," he said.
For the Houma tribe, fishing is more than what they do. It's who they are. They've fished Louisiana's waters for 300 years. Until this spill, that is.
"When I go out there I'm so happy," said Houma fisherman Antoine Dardar.
Dardar fishes for a living, like half of his tribe's 17,000 members. On his boat, which is docked indefinitely, he looked at an image of Wednesday's meeting between President Obama and BP's top executives.
"To them, it don't mean nothing," said Dardar. "Just like a job. But it's not just like a job. It's our life."
BP's spill now threatens the Houma tribe's future.
"It's losing our heritage. It's losing our history. It's like a losing a part of our soul," said Dardar's daughter Brenda Dardar Robichaux.
Houma tribal elders try explaining to the next generation what fishing means. Vlajo Mjehovich knows the best classroom is out on the water.
"I promised my children, my two sons, I would teach them," said Mjehovich. "With the oil coming, that promise is gone."
For so many immigrant groups here, fishing has been their path to the American dream. With BP's spill, that path to the American dream is now at risk.
More oil spill coverage:
BP Stops Dividend Payments During Oil Spill
BP Chairman: "We Care About the Small People"
Who is BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg?
Obama's Oil Spill "Battle" Metaphor Runs Into Problems
Sen. Vitter: Still No Urgency in Gulf Coast Response
Gulf Residents on Obama: Actions Mean Everything
Obama: We Will Fight Oil Spill With Everything We Got
Obama Treads Water, Oil in the Oval Office
Obama Offers Strong Words But No Magic Formula
Fact Check: Gaps in Obama's Oil Spill Speech
