DELCAMBRE, La. (The Daily Advertiser) – Trillions of gallons of rainwater dumped on south Louisiana three weeks ago are still draining through the region, making it tough for shrimpers out on the water at the start of fall white shrimp season.

The season for the coastline west of the Mississippi River officially started Aug. 22. Historic levels of rainwater draining into waterways such as the Vermilion Bay have made shrimp usually caught closer to the shoreline tough to find.

“It has been a major issue,” said Thomas Hymel, specialist for the LSU AgCenter. “The rain has been unprecedented. It’s been an issue across the coast. It has impacted the fall shrimp season everywhere.”

The rush of fresh water has driven shrimp into deeper water, forcing fishermen further away from the coast, he said.

“The shrimp that are coming in now are being caught not so much in the Vermilion Bay but further out,” Hymel said. “We haven’t seen nearly the boats coming in with shrimp that we would normally see this time of year.”

The weak start to the fall season comes as Louisiana fisherman are already facing growing competition from farm-raised, imported shrimp overtaking the U.S. market from countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts 39.2 million pounds of seafood to be produced in the western Gulf, that includes 21.9 million caught off Louisiana and 17.3 million caught off Texas.

Wendell Verret, director of the Twin Parish Port Commission and Port of Delcambre, said he believes the setback caused by flooding is temporary. But coastal parishes like Cameron and Vermilion first need to dry up.

“It’ll straighten up. But what we need is some north winds for it to be able to,” Verret said. “Water that’s feeding into the bay needs to get back to a natural brackish system.”

In an effort to promote consumers to buy local seafood, programs like Delcambre Direct this fall are continuing a service that allows the public to purchase products off the boats of fishermen. The fishing community is preparing for its seafood farmers market the first weekend in October, which will feature a new product — oysters farmed in Grand Isle.

Through the Port of Delcambre, Delcambre Direct recently announced that it have partnered with a firm in Hawaii to create a smart phone app to promote Louisiana seafood.

The app, called Fresher, provides up-to-date seafood-catch information and sends alerts when a new boat arrives at the dock, Verret said.

“The Fresher team developed the app for Hawaii fishermen, but when it was so successful there, they sought to expand on the mainland and they chose Delcambre Direct as their first test market,” Verret said.

For more information on the app, go to www.fresher.io.