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Study reveals alarming fatality rates in Texas shrimping industry

Occupational health expert Dr. Shannon Guillot-Wright said being out on the water around different equipment can create the possibility for various injuries.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A recent study is highlighting the fatality rates in the shrimping industry, a occupation that drives an essential part of Coastal Bend dining.

Dr. Shannon Guillot-Wright, associate professor of occupational health at UTHealth Houston, said that she and her team of researchers have noticed an alarming trend in our gulf waters. 

"We talked to many shrimpers who had things fall on their heads, their friends' heads," she said. 

Guillot-Wright said being out on the water around various forms of equipment can play a role in an array of injuries. 

"There was one man who, a net had fallen and hit him on the head and he started having a seizure," she said. 

Jeff Wright owns Anne's Bait House On The Bay and said that he is no stranger to the dangers of shrimping when a fellow shrimper died on his boat dock in March.

"He fell into the winch head first and it killed him," he said. "Something that no human being should ever have to see." 

Wright said he wants shrimpers to be more aware of the nature of the job and the risks that come with it. 

"It can happen to you in the blink of an eye," he said. 

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