Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Read emails between Wildlife & Fisheries employee and vendor who got big contract

June 14, 2017 — Emails published as part of a Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report show a cozy relationship between a former Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries employee with purchasing authority and a company that ultimately got a big contract with the agency.

The report details a months-long investigation into nearly $55,000 worth of missing fishing equipment that was purchased by Eric Newman and a team he managed in Venice to collect fish tissue samples after the BP oil spill. Auditors found nearly $20,000 worth of fishing equipment matching the description of the missing gear at a home and camp shared by Newman and his wife, Monique Savoy, who was part of the Venice team.

The report also documents relationships Newman had with vendors seeking to do business with the department, including Bloodydecks, LLC. As part of the investigation, auditors found emails between Newman and Bloodydecks representatives, and presented those emails in the report:

Read the full story at The Times-Picayune

LOUISIANA: Official says red snapper plan will result in higher harvest

June 2, 2017 — The head of the Fisheries Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says a pilot program designed to give a select few recreational anglers access to a sizable portion of the Gulf’s red snapper quota is simply an effort to reduce statistical error in the agency’s scientific analysis.

Patrick Banks told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Tuesday the exempted fishing permit, which has drawn howls of protest from the recreational-fishing industry, is designed to improve accuracy of LA Creel, an innovative fish-counting program designed by department biologists that has served as a guide for other Gulf states.

The EFP would allow 150 anglers, selected at random, to harvest 25,000 pounds of red snapper in both 2018 and 2019. These anglers would have no daily limits, and would be legally allowed to fish federal waters any time they like. In 2017, the red snapper season in federal waters for all private-boat anglers was only three days.

The proposal fits in with a seven-pronged approach the agency is working on to try to gain management authority over red snapper, Banks said.

The hallmark of that plan, according to Banks, is a so-called Louisiana-only amendment that would give the state full management authority of the fish in both state and federal waters in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Louisiana was given the go-ahead to flesh out the idea by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, but must ultimately present details of the plan to the council for a final up or down vote.

Read the full story at The Times-Picayune

Pilot program would give Louisiana control of red snapper stocks for three years

May 8, 2017 — The head of the Fisheries Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries on Thursday told the board that regulates his agency he’s optimistic Louisiana may get to manage red snapper in federal waters off the state’s coast in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Patrick Banks updated the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission about a proposal he made to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that would establish a pilot program allowing Louisiana to manage red-snapper stocks in both state and federal waters off its coast for three years. By an 11 to 5 vote, the council approved the proposal, which gives Louisiana the go-ahead to flesh it out into an actual amendment that would ultimately need to be approved by the advisory panel.

“It’s not everything we want, but it’s certainly a better ride than what we’ve got right now,” Banks told the commission.

Details of the plan must still be worked out, and Banks said it’s possible the council will alter the ultimate amendment so much it will look nothing like what’s originally proposed. But his intention is to allow Louisiana to set seasons and regulations out to 200 nautical miles off the coast during the three years of the pilot program to demonstrate how regional management might work.

Banks cautioned, however, that wouldn’t mean a 365-day season with high daily limits.

Under the proposal, state anglers would get access to Louisiana’s historical catch, which is 15.8 percent of the total Gulf recreational red snapper quota. Based on current numbers, that would be about 1.1 million pounds of red snapper.

Since more waters would be open to anglers from the Texas to Mississippi state lines, Louisiana’s share of the quota would be much more quickly reached than under the current management regimen. In 2016, the federal season was only 11 days, but state waters were open to red snapper harvest for nearly nine months.

Read the full story at the Times-Picayune

LOUISIANA: Threshold set for shrimp vessel permits in Gulf

April 14, 2017 — The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council last week set a threshold for shrimp vessel permits in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

According to an amendment approved at the council’s meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, if the number of permits drops below 1,175, a panel will form to discuss the issuance of more permits. The minimum permit threshold was set at 1,072.

Myron Fischer, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries senior adviser and one of the 17 voting members of the council, said he hopes the council will freeze the permits when they drop to 1,175 rather than waiting for them to drop to 1,072.

Currently there are about 1,440 permits with about 384 issued in Louisiana, Fischer said.

Last month, council members met with shrimpers to discuss the amendment, and the overwhelming majority of fishermen said the council should issue more permits sooner and the threshold should be much higher.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Over 5,600 abandoned crab traps removed from Louisiana waters

April 6, 2017 — Over the course of the 30-day blue crab closure, volunteers, staff and members of the commercial fishing industry were out in full force, collecting more than 5,600 traps during the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ annual Derelict Crab Trap Rodeos.

The first volunteer day was March 4 at Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation headed the event with volunteers from the general public, Coastal Conservation Association and personnel from Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and collected 1,542 traps. LPBF and LDWF personnel continued to work during the closure to collect an additional 1,970 and 310 traps respectively. This effort brought the total number of derelict crab traps removed from the Pontchartrain Basin to 3,822.

“In the Pontchartrain Basin, we had a threefold increase in the number of recovered derelict traps from last year due to outstanding collaboration with volunteers, St. Bernard Parish, LDWF, commercial fishermen, CCA, Sweetwater Marina, and Boat Stuf,” said Dr. John Lopez with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. “We estimate that over 130,000 crabs per year were saved with these efforts.”

The second volunteer day was held March 11 at Isle De Jean Charles Marina in Montegut. The event was headed by LDWF with volunteers from the general public and CCA. Four hundred and ninety-three traps were collected during the volunteer event, and LDWF personnel picked up an additional 88 traps during the closure period. The effort in the Terrebonne Basin saw a total of 581 traps removed.

Read the full story at FOX8

Crabbers: Blue crab moratorium will hurt workers, customers

February 21, 2017 — Beginning February 20, Louisiana will enact a first-ever, statewide closure of blue crab fisheries. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says the crab stock is dangerously close to over-harvest and this break will give the population more time to grow.

The harvest restrictions are for immature blue female crabs, except those being held for processing of softshell crabs. According to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, the restrictions should help reduce the fishing pressure on the blue crab stock and encourage a stronger population when the ban ends March 21, 2017.

The statewide shutdown of the Louisiana crab fishery is new, and crabbers say holding the ban in the spring leaves many of them without work. Crabbers also argue it leaves customers without a Lenten favorite.

Crab will not be completely missing from local menus or markets. Crab from outside Louisiana will still be available, although crabbers said they predict the price for blue crab meat will increase and could come at a lower quality.

The 30-day closure of the commercial harvest and the use of crab traps will go into effect in 2017 and last through 2019.

Read the full story at WWLTV

If oysters are polluted, what about the fish?

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.

Read the full story at The Times-Picaynne

LOUISIANA: New LDWF boss Jack Montoucet outlines plan, moves into new office

February 1, 2017 — Jack Montoucet has been fighting fires for a long time, first when he was chief of the Lafayette Fire Department, then operating a alligator farm, and, for the past nine years, serving in Louisiana’s House of Representatives.

Now the 69-year-old Marine Corps veteran — and if you count back those years you come to know he spent some time in the Far East — then you know he’s been under fire for virtually all his adult life.

Why then, when asked by Gov. John Bel Edwards to step down from the State House into a firestorm as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, did Moutoucet agree to take that job?

In a few words, Moutoucet said he’s interested in Louisiana’s outdoors resources. He said that was made more a priority after working closely with the LDWF over the years with what’s become a blueprint for the successful recovery of what was an endangered species, the Louisiana alligator.

Read the full story at The Acadiana Advocate

LOUISIANA: First Major Gulf Oyster Hatchery Revs Up Production on Grand Isle

September 14, 2015 — For more than 20-years, the old Grand Isle Sea Grant oyster hatchery and lab faced exposure to every known element the Gulf of Mexico could throw at it. The recently opened Mike Voisin Oyster Hatchery, whose namesake served as a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries commissioner and chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, may not face that same exposure to the elements, but instead face new challenges both manmade and natural.

Water quality will be a continuing challenge for the new $3 million dollar hatchery according to John Supan, an oyster specialist with Louisiana Sea Grant, who designed and oversees the facility. “The building’s water system is designed to go into recirculating mode during times when water quality is not optimal. It is one thing to have the system, but making it work will be a big challenge,” he explained.

According to the oyster researcher, periods of low salinity from wind-driven plumes of Mississippi River water, or local heavy rainfall from tropical waves, affects larval production in a hatchery environment.

All About Water Quality

Water quality has plagued the Grand Isle operation since inception. With more than 27 years in the making, the new oyster hatchery is shielded from the elements of the Gulf’s uncertain weather and Supan is confident he has found the solution for the fluctuation of water quality.

An advanced water circulation system and temperature-controlled system allows larvae and spat to be produced year-round. This will be instrumental in meeting the hatchery’s billion oyster larvae a year contract with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). Larvae produced at the facility will be used for the restoration of public reefs that were damaged after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and specifically for corrective action towards the state’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment funded cultch plants.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute