Limited departures from New Orleans airport keep seafood industry

New Orleans CityBusiness, Aug 13, 2007 by Jaime Guillet

Too few flights from New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina forced seafood wholesalers to use other means, mainly trucking, to transport goods out of state. But shipping by air is making a comeback.

Airlines that increased air service out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport report a resurgence of cargo shipping. But Harlon Pearce, owner of Harlon's LA Fish and chairman of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, said the slow return of flights forced the seafood and industry, the No. 1 cargo leaving New Orleans, to find new routes.

"The airlines were too slow to come back after the storm so they created other avenues for (wholesale) shipping," Pearce said. "I think they've hurt themselves."

Armstrong cargo shipments for the first six months of 2007 are down 14 percent from 52.8 million pounds in 2006 to 45.6 million. The drop is attributed to the freight slump and the loss of mail and packages shipped through Federal Express and UPS.

Carriers adding air service in New Orleans gain cargo by transporting parcels in the belly of regular passenger flights.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co., the leading Armstrong carrier, reports cargo operations are up since adding flights.

Pre-Katrina, Southwest provided 56 daily flights. Now it offers 28 and will add three daily nonstop flights to Birmingham, Ala., in November, said Dave Hinderland, cargo marketing and business development director.

"Roughly 75 percent of our cargo business is seafood related -- crawfish, blue crabs, tuna, grouper, speckled trout -- you name it," said Steve Massa, New Orleans-area cargo sales manager for Southwest.

From May 2006 to June, Southwest shipped 28.2 million pounds of seafood, with 5.2 million pounds coming from New Orleans. Southwest carried 8 percent more cargo at Armstrong during the first six months of 2007, up from 3.9 million pounds in 2006 to 4.2 million pounds. The reason is twofold, Massa said.

"There is more availability for shippers to ship via air and there is more demand for Louisiana seafood products," he said.

For Nick Piazza, owner of the 50-year-old Harahan-based seafood distributor Vincent Piazza Jr. & Sons Seafood Inc., shipping by air is a necessity.

Piazza said 30 percent of his business comes from outside the state. Sales slumped immediately after Katrina, he said, because of shaken confidence in the Louisiana seafood industry.

"People's faith in New Orleans was down," Piazza said. "Many were wondering if New Orleans was still capable of producing a good product, capable of doing good business."

As Piazza's sales slowly grew during 2006 and 2007, his need to fly product out of New Orleans grew.

"I'm shipping more out by air. All the fish and crabmeat (is shipped) by air because of perishability," he said.

The rebounding seafood distribution faces a significant bump in the road, Pearce said. According to the LSPMB, 35 percent of the nation's seafood comes from Louisiana even though the number of fishermen and vessels is down significantly.

John Roussel, deputy assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said from September 2005 to September 2006, the number of crab fishery vessels dropped 59 percent to 1,533 vessels from the pre-Katrina, five-year average of 3,733. Shrimp boats dropped 58 percent from 7,800 to 3,300. Oyster vessels decreased 38 percent from 900 to 558.

On the license sales side, which Roussel said most accurately represents the number of fishermen because they must be renewed annually, the number of crab licensees dropped 3 percent to 3,344; shrimp licenses are down 31 percent to 19,400; and oyster licenses are down 13 percent to 1,000.

Although there are fewer fishermen post-Katrina, demand for Louisiana's seafood is still strong, said Lenny Minutillo of Louisiana Seafood Exchange. He expects 2007 wholesale sales to equal 2005. "The supply's not there but the demand is."