criteria

In 1995, marketumbrella.org (operating then under the name Economics Institute), whose mission is to cultivate the field of public markets for public good, founded the Crescent City Farmers Market, New Orleans’ first 20th century open air market for small-scaled farmers and fishers to appear in decades. In 2004, it added the White Boot Brigade initiative to work with seasonal fishers in need of new ways to sustain their traditional livelihoods. If they retooled their business practices before being swept away by imported shrimp farmed by transnational corporations, then maybe just maybe they might survive and once again thrive.

Download a printer-friendly copy of our criteria.

Download a printer-friendly copy of our contract with fishers and/or partners.

The White Boot Brigade is changing the Louisiana fishing community by:

1. Gathering fishing families together to build new markets throughout the country to sell their wild caught shrimp directly to consumers, restaurants and institutions.

2. Broadcasting innovation among fishing families via our YouTube channel: Go Fish on Film.

3. Creating sustainable criteria for the fishing and fishing businesses that work under the White Boot Brigade banner, so that the targeted species are maintained and increased. At the center of the White Boot Brigade are core principles that define who can participate in White Boot Brigade. Those voluntary principles are designed to encourage those practices in fishing that increase the ecological sustainability and the economic viability of the fishing culture. When fishing families “join” the WBB, they sign an agreement with the WBB community that they will follow the most innovative and effective practices economically available to fishers.

The White Boot Brigade allows equal access to its programs regardless of the scale of the shrimping operation, as long as it is operated and owned by the family or cooperative that sells the shrimp to consumers. It is the goal of marketumbrella.org that all fishers involved in the White Boot Brigade will voluntarily:

  • Investigate biodiesel as an alternative fuel.
  • Harvest and sell chemically free, wild caught shrimp (except when using minimal amounts of bi-sodium sulfate for IQF).
  • Reduce catch of shrimp sized below 70-90 per pound and increase catch of the larger, more flavorful shrimp, both for marketing purposes as well as to reduce the over fishing of the waters and to maintain the food chain.
  • Use turtle exclusionary devices (TED) and bycatch reduction devices (BYRD) when applicable.
  • Limit trawls to less than 2 hours as much as possible.
  • Use skimmer or butterfly nets as much as possible, which reduces the erosion of the habitat.
  • Search for new technology that reduces the killing of bycatch.
  • Attend educational briefings on new practices for fishing.
  • Use IQF technology onboard when possible.
  • Fish on family owned or cooperatively owned vessels, with proper paperwork maintained and submitted when needed.
  • Work with staff at marketumbrella.org to help design a marketing plan for their individual business that allows for more sales directly to consumers.
  • Participate in meetings and planning with marketumbrella.org staff to find new and improved shipping and delivery methods for fresh shrimp to reach consumers.
  • Work with state and national leaders to share information about new ideas and practices that leads to better rules for sustainable fishing.
  • Attend White Boot Brigade events designed to promote sustainably caught wild seafood, and sell only seafood caught within the prescribed waters by their own vessels.
  • Store and transport seafood at a constant temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

From the mouths of our fishers

Ray and Kay Brandhurst, owners of Four Winds Seafood:
We are committed to keeping the world and the bayou from depleting our natural resources. For example, alternative fuels have always been of extreme interest to us. Now with biodiesel as an alternative, we expect to run the boat completely on biodiesel in the future.

Some of our fishing practices:
We use National Marine Fisheries certified turtle excluder devices in all of our trawls. We also use fish excluder devices in all of our nets, which greatly reduce bycatch. We limit our trawling times to 30 minutes to reduce the mortality rate of our bycatch.

A good portion of our fishing time is spent in deep passes with our nets fishing the surface and never touching the bottom. This method is the least invasive to the ecosystem. We are inshore fishermen who only pull a single trawl from the stern of the boat. The predominant equipment are skimmer nets which are light weight aluminum frames with skids measuring 3ft x 2ft that skim the bottom ever so gently. We put flotation devices on the ends of the frames to lessen the friction on the bottom. The skimmer nets are far less damaging than steel otter doors. By law, boats fishing in offshore waters are required to have fish excluder devices. Inshore boats are not required to have these; however, we voluntarily put these fish excluder devices in our nets.

Pre Katrina, we invested in stationary rigs that fished in strong currents anchored in place, fishing the surface, which burns no fuel and exerts no adverse effects on the bottom. We lost the barges in Katrina and we are working to resurrect this method of fishing.

We would be elated to have funding to bring the barges back, since it is a clean, fuel-efficient method of fishing because there are no engines to burn fuel and, as the current slows, the majority of the bycatch swim out of the net. Politically, we would like to see limited entry extended into inshore waters as it is already in place in offshore waters. This would eliminate “fly-by-nighters” who don’t really care about the industry or have a passion to fish. For them, it’s all about making money or catching the big fish.

Lance Nacio, owner of AnnaMarie Seafood:
I am a 35-year-old commercial fisherman. Growing up on the estuaries of Southern Louisiana, my family has always found ways to make a living off the land. Four or five years ago, I realized that I had to change if I was going to stay in business.

My vessel, the Anna Marie, is a skimmer boat that targets high quality marketable-sized shrimp. We make short drags and return most of the by-catch back alive–and we also use BYRDs on our nets. We work closely with Dr. John Bell at LSU Food Science Dept. to ensure the best quality possible, as well as to find and work with new sustainable shrimping methods. For example, we have requested that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries allow us to experiment with a new method of trapping shrimp that will result in zero by-catch and more control over the size of shrimp captured.

The Anna Marie is now equipped with insulation and marine refrigeration equipment in order to fast-freeze and package our shrimp aboard. Often the shrimp are still alive when we put them into the ultra-low temperature (minus 40 degrees F.) freezer, which holds the product until we off-load at the dock. The shrimp is kept frozen on shore until we can transport the product to our clients. Whole Foods and Rouse, as well as companies on the West Coast, are currently purchasing our new Frozen-at-sea (FAS) chemical-free shrimp. And the end result is wild-caught shrimp that is ‘Fresher Than Fresh’…

The health of the Gulf shrimp fishery – and the condition of the sea life in general in the Gulf – is improving due to a combination of a number of factors. The number of fishermen has declined since the hurricanes hit the area, yet the number of pounds of shrimp landed remains constant. Whatever I can do to enhance the sustainability of this fishery only serves to ensure the future success of AnnaMarie Seafood and other family-owned enterprises like mine—for my children and theirs.

South Plaquemines United Fisheries Cooperative mission statement:
The South Plaquemines United Fisheries Cooperative strives toward the development of self-supporting rural fishing communities via grass roots organizing, community based training, advocacy and economic development activities centered around cooperative owned facilities, production and marketing. With support from OxfamAmerica and the National Rural Funders' Collaborative (among others), we are working closely with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives to build the capacity of this community of harvesters to retool for the future.