Between 1975 and 1983, thousands of Vietnamese refugees crowded into Texas, and having little capital, found opportunity in the Gulf Coast shrimping industry. "We like the weather, we like the shrimping, we like a chance to start our own businesses," one immigrant explained. Vietnamese fishermen and their families pooled their savings and began to buy their own boats. Many white fishermen in the area tried to ward off the competitive threat by pressuring most of the local bait shops to boycott the Vietnamese shrimpers. They also successfully lobbied in the state legislature for restrictions on new shrimp boat licenses.
Undeterred, the Vietnamese fishermen thrived in the shrimping industry by working longer and harder than their white counterparts. Some whites felt that they were being forced to lower their standard of living to that of the new arrivals. Many presumed, falsely, that their Vietnamese competitors were being subsidized by welfare grants
