PANAMA CITY BEACH — U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek stood at Capt. Anderson’s Marina and saw what struggling local fisherman are up against: the docks.
“It’s important that we respond on behalf of the overall economy,” he told a crowd gathered a few stairsteps away from a line of docked fishing boats, most (if not all) of them underbooked since an April 20 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
“If these captains fail,” Meek said, “this county is going to go through some real strong economic stresses over the next several months.”
The Democrat was in town to tour the marina, speak with fishermen and later raise money for his campaign in Florida’s eye-catching U.S. Senate race. His main challengers are Republican Marco Rubio and newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist, although another Democrat, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, has become Meek’s rival in the party’s primary.
About 25 fishermen and others gathered upstairs at the marina, and Meek pointed out most of them wouldn’t have the free time to attend during normal busy fishing seasons. Downstairs, one worker cleaned a fish, but the dock was mostly quiet with few customers in sight.
“All of the litigation that’s going on right now is not going to resolve the immediate situation,” Meek said. The crowd heartily agreed with that, and many told him local industry relies on about 100 days of summer business to pay most of the year’s bills. That business, they said, is gone.
“It’s keeping the boats tied to the docks,” marina manager and co-owner Pam Anderson said of the offshore mess of oil.
Yet there have been no reports of any pollution near the local fishery. Charter boats here typically travel 25 miles out into the Gulf, far from the edge of the “area of uncertainty” where federal officials have closed waters to fishing.
Worse still, several people told Meek, is this year’s shortest-ever red snapper season (June 1 to July 23), which means they can’t go out and catch those fish now to prop up their business. “Even if the oil wasn’t here, we’d still be in rough shape,” one fisherman said of the short season. “Our hardship wouldn’t be so bad if we’d have started April 15 like we used to,” said another. All agreed they’re throwing back red snapper catch after catch.
Meek said he supports extending the season as an emergency measure and will work on it quickly.
He promised mainly to help correct the perception that Panama City Beach and other beaches like it are closed and oily, an imaginary view that has slowed reservations from summer tourists. (One woman said of her 300 c*ndominiums, only seven are reserved for next week.)
“I’m going to spread the reality of the fact that there’s not oil in the water, that people should be coming out, don’t cancel your plans,” Meek said. He said elected officials from all over Florida would “break their backs” to travel here and televise proof, but a national figure would be even better. He mentioned Joe Biden but didn’t promise anyone in particular.
Meek had a fundraiser planned later in the afternoon before traveling to Pensacola for another roundtable.
When he returns to Washington, he said, he plans a “special order” speech on the House floor stressing the Gulf and the beach are open for tourist business. He invited fishermen and others to send him e-mails (and photographic proof) to kendrick@kendrickmeek.com.
Posted By: Kendrick Meek
Monday, May 17th 2010 at 12:36PM
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