Sun Herald
By ANITA LEE

GULFPORT — Shrimpers displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be unable to return to Gulfport soon, a state Port Authority committee has concluded.

Instead, the committee recommends the port support projects to build a new commercial harbor in Pass Christian and double the size of Gulfport’s harbor with an eastward expansion. The Pass Christian harbor has been funded with a $25 million federal Katrina grant, while Mayor George Schoegel is “aggressively pursuing,” plans to double the size of Gulfport’s harbor, port committee member Frank Wilem told the board at a meeting Tuesday morning.

Shrimpers long called the state port home, but Katrina tore up their docks and dumped debris in the water.

The port is in the midst of planning an expansion along its waterfront south of downtown. A replacement shrimp harbor in the old location would have to be dismantled two years after completion for the port expansion, which Gov. Haley Barbour labeled the largest economic development project in state history.

A permanent home in the expanded port, the committee concluded, would be cost-prohibitive.

“This whole situation with commercial waterfronts, or working waterfronts, is really a nationwide problem,” said Bill Walker, executive director of the state Department of Marine Resources. “These are going away rapidly because the value of the land has increased so much for other purposes.”

Shrimpers like Gulfport because it is close to their fishing grounds, the harbor was deep enough for boats 55 feet or longer, and dockside sales thrived. In Pass Christian, fuel costs are higher, traffic won’t support dockside sales and some shrimpers say they have been forced to sell their big boats because the water is too shallow.

Attorney Bill Dreher, who represents four to six shrimpers, plans to continue discussions with port authorities to find a suitable site before the next shrimp season begins around June.

“A five- to 10-year plan is just not feasible,” Dreher said. “I want to get at least a temporary site so that Gulfport doesn’t forget about us. We don’t want to be out of sight, out of mind.”

Dreher said the shrimpers he represents are 60 or over and can’t afford to wait for a long-term solution.

Surveys filled out by more than 20 shrimpers indicate that most have relocated to Pass Chrisitian but want to return to Gulfport. They would like to have ice and gasoline available, but could manage with only dock space and electricity, Dreher said.

The port has concluded it is under no legal obligation to provide space for the shrimpers, but Dreher believes legal documents entitle them to a permanent home in the port. However, he said, he and the shrimpers are working for an amicable solution.

Private property in the Gulfport harbor, known as the MISSCO site, could be available for short-term lease, the port committee concluded, but dock repairs and dredging would be needed. Also, the shrimpers would have to move if the land sold, which gets back to Walker’s point:

Private developers often are willing to pay more than the government can afford for property on the water.

“We’ve got to get out there and get some of these lands into the public domain so we can maintain them as commercial, working waterfronts,” Walker said.

Demand for commercial space is apparent.

Biloxi has 95 slips for shrimpers on the Mississippi Sound and Back Bay. The port committee found that all slips were full, with long waiting lists.