Terrebonne Parish shrimper says three-year bridge closure driving away business

DULAC, La. (WGNO) — Somewhere down Shrimpers Row lies the “Shrimp Kingdom.” Once a booming business, it now struggles to make ends meet.

Tracey Trahan says it’s not just because of the incredibly low prices of shrimp, but instead, a broken bridge that’s driving away thousands of customers.

“It’s impacting us tremendously with our sales of our business and getting a large trucking 18-wheelers in here,” said Trahan. “Some of our vendors have even backed out from picking up here because of the highway on Shrimpers Row. It’s too narrow and our truck drivers are complaining about it being dangerous.”

With the bridge being unusable, Trahan says it adds about a half hour to his commute.

“We have cut down some of our employees because of it. We’re really slowing things down until they can fix this bridge,” said Trahan.

In 2021, the Buquet Bridge was destroyed during Hurricane Ida. For the past three years, fishermen along Shrimpers Row have been seeing a slow decline in business.

Trahan says he’s been asking the parish to make repairs.

“I was personally told that they’re waiting on funding from FEMA,” said Trahan.

According to Trahan, it could take up to five years to repair the bridge.

“That’s really too long. I could be out of business by then. I hope that the federal government and state could prioritize that bridge because we have some of the best fishing grounds down here, recreational and commercial. People dread coming down this Shrimpers Row because of the bridge being out dock,” Trahan said.

WGNO reached out to the roads and bridges department in Terrebonne Parish to find out when the bridge will be repaired and has not heard back.

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