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| Something is fishy at Orleans Parish Prison |
| By WDSU (New Orleans) |
| Published: 07/02/2001 |
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Orleans Parish Prison inmates are raising fish on a prison farm in a new business designed to cut the prison budget. The prison labor force is expected to raise more than 100,000 pounds of tilapia per year, according to Sheriff Charles Foti. Foti said that he got the idea a couple of years ago at a convention. He initially wanted the inmates to raise farm animals, but realized that land for such a project would be too scarce in Orleans Parish. Foti said that farming tilapia, a fish originally found in the Nile River in Egypt, makes better since economically because the prison can get three 6-ounce servings from one fish. The prison also will use the fish to barter for other food supplies from the State Department of Corrections. 'We can cut the amount -- the cost it costs us to feed the inmates -- probably in the neighborhood of $150,000 to $200,000 a year when we're in full production,' Foti said. The prisoners also benefit by learning new skills in biology and food production, Foti said. |
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