Saving Seafood

Offshore wind advocates see Gulf of Mexico opportunity

August 25, 2021 — Building on moves by Louisiana, offshore wind advocates see the Gulf of Mexico as a next major step for developing the U.S. industry – possibly including re-use of offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines as assets for an allied “green hydrogen” industry.

“We know offshore wind takes a long time to get off the ground…we’ve got to move fast,” said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the industry group Business Network for Offshore Wind, on the opening days of its International Partnering Forum conference in Richmond, Va.

BNOW’s Gulf of Mexico working group conferred by video Tuesday with officials in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has been working since June on Bel Edwards’ request to seek commercial interest in developing wind power off his state.

The agency is taking its early look at a swath of the gulf outer continental shelf out to 4,000-foot depth for potential siting of fixed-foundation and floating wind turbines.

“We are at the very beginning of that process,” said Tershara Matthews of BOEM. The agency is reviewing comments from stakeholders – along with some proprietary information offered by potential wind developers – to assess its next steps.

“There was interest in both fixed and floating,” added Mike Celata of BOEM, with more tending toward fixed development on the shallower shelf. Most of that is focused west of Lafayette, La., with “overlapping interest” by different developers, he said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: $12.4M in COVID-19 relief funds coming from wildlife and fisheries

August 2, 2021 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) will soon begin accepting applications for $12.4 million in financial assistance that will be available to Louisiana fishermen and others in the industry who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications for these funds will open at 8 a.m. Aug. 9.

Applications can only be submitted online. To access the application, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cares-act-assistance.

The application process will be open for a three-week period, according to LDWF. The deadline to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. Aug. Funding allocation has been structured so that all applications submitted before the deadline will be considered. The funds, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CARES 2.0), will be distributed as direct aid payments by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to those applicants who qualify.

“These federal funds are another step in alleviating some of the financial impacts of the pandemic on our state,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “While we know these funds are not a cure-all, we are grateful for the relief they will provide to our hardworking fishing community.”

LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet agreed with Edwards. “This is more crucial aid for our fishing community. While it will not totally bail out all of those hard workers, it does provide much-needed financial help to them.”

Read the full story at KTBS

Louisiana to Begin Accepting Applications For Round 2 of CARES Act Funding in August

July 29, 2021 — Another state is moving forward with distributing the second round of CARES Act funding provided for fisheries relief.

Last week SeafoodNews reported that Massachusetts began sending out applications to distribute their $23.6 million in fisheries relief funding. Now, Louisiana is getting ready to begin accepting applications for the funds, which are part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Online sessions to discuss Louisiana’s future in wind energy

June 10, 2021 — Online sessions will take a closer look at how offshore wind energy could become part of Louisiana’s future.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Wednesday, June 9, that the Governor’s office and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Louisiana Economic Development and the Department of Natural Resources will host Louisiana Wind Week 2021 from June 21-25.

“While Louisiana’s onshore wind resources are limited, Louisiana’s coast is ripe for wind energy development,” said Gov. Edwards. “Thanks to years of oil and gas exploration experience, Louisiana’s existing infrastructure, workforce and business community give us a strategic advantage in developing offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico and all coastal waters of the United States.”

The state says that many Louisiana companies have already leveraged their experience to help design, fabricate and install the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm at the Block Island project off the coast of Rhode Island.

Read the full story at KATC

Pandemic stresses already-challenged Louisiana seafood industry

March 16, 2021 — The limitations placed on dining, workplaces and businesses to curb the spread of the coronavirus are just the latest in a string of hard hits for the Louisiana’s seafood industry, which has faced one problem after another in the last few years.

As Business Report details in a new feature, the industry was already battling competition from foreign imports, which undercut prices and inspired the Louisiana Legislature in 2019 to pass a seafood labelling law requiring restaurant menus to label whether shrimp and crawfish are of Louisiana origin.

In 2019, the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway for 123 days released an influx of freshwater from the Mississippi River into oyster-harvesting areas, decimating the supply. Add to that, the 2020 hurricane season, in which the state’s fertile waters and seafood farms faced off against five named landfalling storms.

Read the full story at Business Report

Wind Power In Louisiana: High Potential, A Long Way Off

December 29, 2020 — Gov. John Bel Edwards has set a goal for Louisiana to be carbon neutral by 2050, but so far, the state is behind its neighbors. Now, Edwards wants to develop offshore wind power in the Gulf.

It’s something that’s already happening in other parts of the country — with help from a Louisiana company, even.

Just off the rocky coast of Rhode Island, five giant white wind turbines turn in the wind. It’s the first commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S., partially built by Gulf Island Fabrication, a Houma-based steel fabricator. The company used its expertise in old-school oil platforms to build the bases for the nearly 600-foot tall wind turbines.

Edwards is asking the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to launch a task force to figure out what it would take to build those here.

“This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity,” Edwards said in a statement. “We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Read the full story at WRKF

LDWF Seeks Public Input on Draft of Louisiana Oyster Management and Rehabilitation Strategic Plan

November 24, 2020 — The following was released by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries:

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is seeking public comment from all coastal stakeholders regarding its draft “Louisiana Oyster Management and Rehabilitation Strategic Plan.”

The LDWF Office of Fisheries is responsible for the protection, conservation and replenishment of Louisiana’s renewable, aquatic natural resources, including Louisiana oysters.  In the wake of Louisiana’s recent man-made and natural disasters, this crucial task has never been as important as it is today.

The 2019 oyster stock assessment indicates that Louisiana is experiencing the lowest stock size in the public oyster areas ever recorded, according to the Strategic Plan draft. The decline, according to the draft, is not a result of any single event, but reflects the effects of a myriad of population stressors. Those include changes in hydrology, extreme weather events, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill/response activities, harvest pressure, and most notably, the 2018-2019 Mississippi River flooding event.

“This plan contains initiatives that have the potential to assist in the oyster rehabilitation process,” said Patrick Banks, LDWF Assistant Secretary for Fisheries. “It can increase the productivity and viability of the public oyster areas in Louisiana, aid the oyster industry in adjusting to a changing coast, and allow the industry to be sustainable into the future.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office directed LDWF to begin developing the plan in 2019. The Louisiana Legislature further instructed LDWF through the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 56 during the 2020 legislative session.

Members of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), and the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities assisted in the development of the plan draft. Additionally, CPRA committed significant funding to help LDWF implement initiatives in the plan.

“CPRA is proud to be a part of this strategic plan to assist the oyster industry and the oyster resource itself,” said CPRA Executive Director Bren Haase. “This is an important part of our central mission, the implementation of projects that benefit our coastal habitats as well as our working coast.”

According to the draft, it will cost approximately $132.3 million to fund all initiatives in the plan, which will take an estimated five years, at a minimum, to implement.

The 17-page plan is available at: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Resources/Publications/Oyster/Oyster-Strategic-Plan—Public-Notice-Draft.pdf

LDWF will assemble and consider comments submitted by December 4, 2020, and will finalize the plan document for submission to the Governor’s Office and the Legislature later this year.   Comments can be submitted via email to Carolina Bourque, LDWF Oyster Program Manager, at cbourque@wlf.la.gov or by regular mail to Carolina Bourque, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898.

Louisiana pursuing wind energy opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico

November 12, 2020 — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the U.S.’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at the inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Off the coast of Rhode Island, Lafayette-based Aries Marine Corp. and Galliano-based Falcon Global LLC are Louisiana liftboat operators that helped develop the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm — Block Island. For that project, Metairie-based Keystone Engineering provided design assistance and Houma-based Gulf Island Fabrication built foundation jackets and piling.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

LOUISIANA: Gov. Edwards Announces Renewable Energy Initiative for Gulf of Mexico

November 10, 2020 — Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the nation’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at today’s inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Read the full story at KATC

Hurricane Zeta crashes onshore in storm-weary Louisiana

October 28, 2020 — Hurricane Zeta slammed into storm-weary Louisiana on Wednesday with New Orleans squarely in its path, threatening to push up to 9 feet of sea water inland and batter homes and businesses with fierce winds in a Gulf Coast region already pounded by multiple storms this year.

Some roads were flooded near the coast, where forecasters said Zeta was making landfall around Terrebone Bay near Cocodrie. Rain pelted the French Quarter in New Orleans, where workers closed one of the last floodgates as residents braced for Zeta, though a few people were still out on Bourbon Street with umbrellas. The iconic streetcars were idled and City Hall closed, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

Zeta had top sustained winds of 110 (177 kph) as a Category 2 hurricane and was the 27th named storm of a historically busy Atlantic hurricane season — with over a month left before it ends.

Tropical storm warnings were issued as far away as the north Georgia mountains, highly unusual for the region. New Orleans has been in the warning areas of seven previous storms that veered east or west this season. Zeta was staying on course.

Read the full story at ABC News