The Gulf Disaster: By the Numbers

39.4%: Decline in average northern Gulf of Mexico shrimp prices in the New York City wholesale market between 1999 and 2009

517,000: Tons of shrimp imported into the U.S. in 2004, up from 345,000 in 2000

1st: Louisiana’s rank among the 50 U.S. states in crude oil production and oil imports (2008)

2nd: Louisiana’s rank among the 50 U.S. states oil-refining capacity (2008)

$1.94 billion: Louisiana revenue from oil and gas in Fiscal Year 2007/08, 16% of state government income

$1.62 billion: Louisiana revenue from oil and gas in Fiscal Year 1981/82, 41% of state government income

37.5%: Share of offshore oil and gas revenue offered by President Truman to Louisiana in 1948 but rejected under pressure from arch-segregationist and oil magnate Leander Perez.

$6.3 billion: Projected Louisiana oil and gas revenues if it received a 37.5% share from offshore production in 2008

$14.9 billion: Federal government oil and gas revenues from Louisiana’s offshore continental shelf (2008)

16.7%: Share of Louisiana’s population living in poverty, compared to the national average of 12.7% (2006)

797: Rate of prison incarceration per 100,000 Louisiana residents, compared to the national rate of 491 (2005)

(Sources: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Hovey and Hovey 2006, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA Fisheries, Pew Charitable Trusts 2007, Justice Policy Institute. For a longer list of  “By the Numbers” and complete references, see indypendent.org.)