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ORAL HISTORY

Lance Nacio

Anna Marie Shrimp

Lance Nacio, born in 1971, grew up in Lafourche and Terrebone Parishes, mainly at a trapping camp, accessible only by boat, on Grand Bayou Blue. There, isolated, the Nacio family lived off the land: fishing, hunting, gardening, and trapping fur-bearing animals to sell. In 1997, Lance became a full-time commercial fisherman, shrimping mainly. After a few good years, he watched the market price of shrimp drop dramatically around 2001, when imports, often pumped full of antibiotics, skyrocketed.

Lance stuck with shrimping, working to educate the public and fellow fishermen about the virtues of domestically farmed shrimp. He has outfitted his boats with devices that lessened his environmental impact, like skimmers and turtle-excluder devices. He’s established a market selling bycatch, traditionally unwanted fish like conger eel, lion fish, and almaco jack, to New Orleans restaurants excited to experiment with new species. Through these steps and others, Lance Nacio has become a leading advocate for Gulf sustainability.