February 10, 2017 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has sent out a number of releases over the past year about oyster harvesters getting busted pulling up the mollusks from polluted waters. That’s a disturbing trend for consumers who like to like to get a fix on Friday nights from their favorite oyster bars.
But it’s also concerning for South Louisiana’s recreational anglers, who regularly fish the same waters that host polluted reefs. One such bust occurred last month in Hopedale’s Lake Robin, which is heavily fished in the spring, fall and early winter.
But Gordon Leblanc, who administers the molluscan shellfish program for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, said just because an area’s oysters are polluted doesn’t mean its fish necessarily are.
“The water goes through a fish’s gills, and the fish is able to move around,” Leblanc said. “An oyster is a filter-feeder. Everything that passes through him goes through his digestive tract.