Disgusted In Paradise

Many have asked me lately if we are working with BP's "vessel of opportunity program" (VOO). The answer to that question is no. We did filled out an application very soon after the program started wanting to have that option available in the event our business was interrupted. BP promised to give top priority to fishermen.

When the program began we were told to fill out the application which we did after consulting with an attorney and then hand delivered it to the BP outreach office in Panama City Florida. The person that accepted the application indicated it would be faxed to the Mobile office at the end of that business day. We were supposed to be contacted after that to take a "yellow card" class. Evidently all participants have to have a yellow id card as proof they have attended an orientation and safety meeting.

Then we waited and waited to find out we would be needed. We have yet to be called about a class and cannot find out if our contract was even received by BP. I was advised by others in the industry to contact BP via phone to see if we were even listed in the database. Repeated calls failed to find out anything. In the meantime we started seeing vessels mobilized in Panama City, Port St. Joe, and Apalachicola.

Finally out of desperation and fear we attended a meeting with Florida's Senator Bill Nelson in Panama City. Senator Nelson said that he would find out what the problem was with the VOO program with regards to mobilization of commercial fishermen and charter fishermen and also check on why such large numbers of out of state vessels were doing work that these two groups could do.

We also attended a meeting with Florida State Attorney General Bill McCullom and a BP representative in Panama City and he too promised to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on with the VOO program.

The situation is basically that the program is so ripe with corruption we do not anticipate being able to participate. Contracts were issued to elected officials and their family members with no regard to whether or not they were actually a commercial or charter fisherman. Having a contact within the belly of the beast has revealed a lot more information. Some individuals were able to wind up with multiple contracts and sometimes dozens. It did not seem to matter much if they were in the fishing business or even owned a boat.

When you get a contract or multiple contracts you can sub contract with a fisherman who has a boat. It works like this. A boat the size of mine would be paid $1500 per day plus $200 a day for one crewman. That may sound like a lot of money to some but compared to what we make fishing one day at this time of year it is a fair price. Now if you do not have a contract a person who may not even own a boat will offer you $400 per day. That leaves $1300 per day in profit for the man who holds the contracts.

My inside source told me this week BP did release one individual that was holding 28 contracts between the Alabama line and Carabelle, Florida. Who knows how bad the corruption is but the way BP is throwing around money I firmly believe they will declare bankruptcy very soon.