Shrimping fleet blessed

DELCAMBRE - On your mark, get set ... Shrimp! While the shrimp season for inland waters was already well under way, shri mpers here received their official blessing Sunday morning.

"We pray for abundance of shrimp this season," said the Rev. Herbert Bennerfield III, of both Our Lady of the Lake and St. Martin de Porres Catholic Churches. "We ask you (Jesus) to bless this shrimp fleet now and forever."

Standing on the boat, "Miss Behaving," Bennerfield gave the annual "blessing of the fleet," following Mass on Sunday morning at the Shrimp Festival Building. Many people at the event said with high fuel prices and low shrimp prices, shrimpers need all the help they can get.

"Shrimping is in my blood. I used to shrimp for a living, but it's hard to make a living in it now," Mark Palombo of Delcambre said.

Hundreds came out to witness the tradition and hope for a good catch this year. There were many from out of town and many from Delcambre, like longtime residents A.J. Viator and E.J. Segura.

"We both used to shrimp, and he lives down the road," Viator said. "It (the Shrimp Festival's blessing of the fleet) is a celebration, a good time. That's where you see a lot of people you haven't seen in a long time."

The chance to see friends was also the reason David Girouard of Youngsville and his wife Mennetta chose to attend the event.

"My wife has family here (in Delcambre)," David Girouard said.

Mennetta Girouard said she normally sees more shrimp boats present during the blessing ceremony but said she understood why some were out shrimping instead of being there.

"They're trying to get it before the disturbance (Hurricane Dean) hits because once a disturbance hits, they won't get anything," she said.

The blessing of the fleet may be primarily for shrimpers, but David Girouard said the average fisherman had reason to be there as well.

"The priest doesn't just bless the shrimp boats, he also blesses the pleasure boats," Girouard said. "They (too) need all the help they can get."