Nearly all of the Gulf Coast's Vietnamese fishermen are still struggling to find work and receive compensation one year after the BP PLC oil spill.

The Gulf of Mexico gusher shuttered fisheries in the region, leaving many watermen out of work. But it was particularly devastating for the roughly 13,000 Vietnamese Americans in the Gulf who are employed by the seafood industry in some capacity, said Darryl Malek-Wiley of Sierra Club New Orleans.

Many were immediately attracted to fishing jobs when they arrived on the Gulf Coast during the 1970s and '80s. The work was familiar, and English proficiency was not required.

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Now, concern about long-term seafood contamination has fishing communities worried it will be many more years before they are able to return to the sea. This realization has led to severe mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, depression and alcohol abuse.

Doctors recently reported these emotional effects could do more damage than physical health impacts (Greenwire, April 7).

"They're still struggling seriously," Malek-Wiley said.

Compensation

The nuances of compensation claims make it difficult for many Vietnamese fishermen to secure funds. Members of fishing communities struggle with paperwork and documentation requirements that are often repetitive and are not specific to the seasonal nature of the fishing industry.

For example, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the agency that distributes shares of BP's $20 billion compensation fund, might ask an applicant to detail income earned last year from January to March. Fishermen who earn their yearly income during their fishing season, which might extend from May to June, would have to report no income, leading to a lower compensation payment or none at all, said Lan Diep, an attorney with the Mississippi Center for Justice, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services and Legal Services of Alabama.

"That's something that maybe BP's saying: You're only making this much because this is what your papers say, but in actuality they might be making a lot more," said Khai Nguyen, business development counselor for Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp. Inc.

While they wait, many fishermen are grasping onto quick payments from GCCF, Nguyen said. The facility offers $5,000 payouts for individuals on the condition they waive future claims against BP or any other parties potentially responsible for the spill.

"Some of those people, you're offering them $5,000 when they have nothing right now," Nguyen said. "It's going to be hard for them to turn that down, but it's very unfair to them."

Language

Language is another factor complicating the problems of employment and compensation.

"The claims process is confusing already," said Diep, who speaks Vietnamese and said he helps fishermen compile documentation. "Add to that a language barrier, and it becomes exponentially harder to navigate the process."

According to Diep, GCCF has hired Vietnamese-speaking intake employees, but the workers are often unable to provide more than basic information to applicants.

Federal, local and state government officials have been working on relief efforts in the Gulf but are having difficulty involving foreign-language speakers in their processes.

"If you can't get into the language that is spoken by those communities, that in and of itself is frequently a dealbreaker," said National Environmental Justice Advisory Council co-Chairwoman Jodena Henneke during a March 31 teleconference on Gulf restoration efforts.

During the teleconference, NEJAC members identified language barriers as a key hurdle (Greenwire, April 1).

Vien Nguyen, a Louisiana pastor and NEJAC member, said context is needed along with translation. To the Asian community, he said, ecology is a new concept.

"If we want something like long-term engagement, and that's what we're looking for, then the community's interest must be perked, and the interest cannot be perked if they do not understand," he said.