Trappers of the Barataria

Nutria Traditions

Jon and Jocelyn Donlon

Christopher Areas

Nutria trapper, fisherman, trawler

Chris Areas with a sack used to carry nutria pelts

After traveling around the United States in his youth, Chris Areas has returned to Lafitte (Jefferson Parish), now participating in family traditions of trapping, fishing, and trawling. A third-generation trapper, Chris learned the swamps from his grandfather, who was his babysitter when he was growing up in Caernarvon, St. Bernard Parish. As a child, Chris also worked on his uncle's shrimp boat. Chris's father worked at "bustering" crabs, which is the process of molting crabs to produce soft-shells. Chris recollects being taught to negotiate the marsh as a youngster, and he speaks proudly of teaching his two boys in turn.

Chris identifies strongly with his Isleños heritage, though he didn't learn Spanish in school. (He says that adults wanted to be able to talk about things in Spanish without the children understanding.) "The Isleños all come from the Canary Islands, you know, and when I was young my grandma took me to visit, to see the Canary Island relatives. We got there, and my grandma asked to be taken to see some relatives. They took us to the graveyard. 'There they all are,' they said. 'No, live ones!' my grandma said. They told us, 'This is it; they here or in America! They died or they went over there.'"

Growing up, Chris's life followed the seasons, living at a camp for part of the year, then trawling, then home. Both his grandfathers had trapping camps in St. Bernard Parish. Original land grants gave families, including the Areas family, a piece of land "from the river to the lake, so you had trap land in the winter, high land to grow your vegetables. That's why we had to learn different aspects of work." Indeed, Chris has a notion that "you have to learn everything."

In 2002, Chris participated in Louisiana's Nutria Control Program. He believes the program saved him from bankruptcy. After difficult years on the boat, he trapped on 686 acres of family land in St. Bernard Parish, living at the camp in order to deter poachers. He turned in approximately 400-500 tails per week, at $4.00 tail. To get started, he bought traps from older people on the bayou, who trapped 40 years ago and had traps in storage. He began with 36 traps and gradually added to his stock. He decided on traps rather than shooting because, first, it was less expensive, and, second, he didn't want to "spook" the animals into the bushes. He was also trying to sell the meat and pelts to local dealer Leo Kerner, and trapping better preserves them. He sold meat for $.75, the body for $1.00.

Because of coastal erosion, the circumstances at the family camp are very different now from what they were when Chris was growing up. Where there used to be enough land to play football, there is now water. Nevertheless, Chris has deep reservations about the choices being made to address erosion. Also, he has been publicly involved in debate over the decline of the shrimping industry. The market is depressed for many products, from fur to shrimp. At the time of the interview, shrimpers were getting $.55/lb, down from $1.10 in 2001. He says that his boat can't "hold enough shrimp to pay for the fuel and groceries to go out." Thus, many people are going "out front," (which means moving to the city of New Orleans from Lafitte) for income. Chris has serious concerns about the future of the local seafood markets.