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To Market

Expect some shortages in Katrina's wake

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published September 7, 2005

For the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the storm was catastrophic. By comparison, the effects on food shoppers in the Tampa Bay area are infinitely trivial, limited perhaps to paying higher prices for grouper or coping with shortages of oysters, Florida avocados or sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.

"I think it is important for consumers to remember that whenever we have a natural disaster, whether it is a freeze, a hurricane, a flood, or whatever, the damage that's done in some areas can increase prices, it can cause a shortage of supplies, but there are always plenty of other things in the produce department that consumers can choose from," said Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association. There is little doubt that some favorites might be less abundant, Means said, noting that sweet potatoes are a major Louisiana crop.

"I think that some of the other things that are important to keep in mind is the damage to the port. Fruit, in particular, bananas that came into the port, may be rerouted to other ports at this point, because that is a major entrance point for some bananas and tropical fruit," she said.

Of course, Katrina also caused problems in Florida before barreling through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In Homestead, the hurricane damaged 70 percent of the avocados grown by Brooks Tropicals, the largest supplier of Florida avocados.

"The good news is the trees haven't been damaged, unlike Andrew, which toppled 75 to 90 percent of the trees," marketing director Mary Ostlund said.

September is a good time to shop for apples, arugula, atemoya, beans, cabbage, cantaloupes, sweet corn, mangos, summer squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, honeydews, carambola, lettuce, nectarines, okra, peaches, pears, peppers, plantains and watermelons.

Some seafood favorites could be expensive this month and for weeks to come. The hurricane is expected to affect the availability of grouper from the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana oysters and even Florida lobster.

"It's definitely affected the gulf grouper supply, because it limited fishermen from going out to fish," said Paul Johnson of Seven Springs Seafood in New Port Richey.

"I think that some of the effect will be down the road, like crawfish season for next year. I think that naturally prices will be higher for a couple of reasons, fuel prices and the hurricane."

It has been a grim period for fishermen, said Gib Migliano of Save on Seafood, a wholesale and retail company in St. Petersburg.

"I talk to them every day and it's pretty heartbreaking. With all the attention focused on Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, I think they forgot the storm ever went through Florida. When the storm took a jog to the south, it caught everyone in Key West and the lower keys off-guard," Migliano said.

He said about 50 to 75 percent of the Florida lobster traps were damaged or lost and that grouper fishermen have had to deal with disabled boats. Boats only started going back out toward the end of last week, Migliano said.

"So you take some players out of the picture and there's going to be a grouper shortage. I don't know how severe yet," he said.

While local grouper might be sparse, imports should still be available from Central and South America.

Sarma Reynolds, owner of the Dunedin Fish Market, said she is depending on her small wholesale supplier for gulf grouper. She is optimistic the market will stabilize.

"Hopefully, we're going to get back our oysters, red snapper and Florida shrimp."

- Waveney Ann Moore writes about produce and seafood monthly for the Taste section. She can be reached at 727 892-2283 or moore@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 6, 2005, 09:19:04]