Saving Seafood

Risk of oil spills may rise as climate change creates more monster storms

September 30, 2021 — Hurricane Ida left a trail of destruction after slamming into the Gulf Coast, but offshore the Category 4 storm left something else in its wake: oil spills.

Oil spills aren’t uncommon with strong storms, but as climate change pushes up sea levels and creates stronger storms with more moisture, offshore refineries are going to need greater and greater protections.

The Gulf of Mexico is “particularly vulnerable” because of the prevalence of storms, the low-lying geography, sea-level rise, receding shorelines and the presence of oil facilities, Christopher Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told ABC News. Since offshore drilling began in the region in 1942, about 6,000 oil and gas structures have been installed in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Sept. 4, the day before Ida made landfall in Louisiana, the Coast Guard announced that cleanup crews already were responding to a large oil spill at an offshore drilling about 2 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Read the full story at ABC News

 

 

LOUISIANA: Judge’s order delays implementation of Turtle Exclusion Devices for vessels

September 29, 2021 — A US District Judge has granted a motion from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) for a preliminary injunction on the federal Turtle Exclusion Devices for some vessels.

LDWF says the order delays implementation of the requirements of TEDs in skimmer vessels 40 feet in length or greater in Louisiana inshore waters until February 1, 2022. The motion for the injunction was granted on September 9, 2021.

LDWF says that on December 20, 2019, the Final Rule was published requiring skimmer vessels 40 feet in length or greater to have an approved TED installed by April 1, 2021. In March 2021, NOAA delayed implementation of the Rule to August 1, 2021 due to a lack of outreach and availability of TEDs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2021, NOAA released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require TEDs on all skimmer vessels, regardless of vessel length.

Read the full story at KATC

 

Congressman: Louisiana needs fishery disaster determination after Ida

September 14, 2021 — U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) is calling on the federal government to declare his state a “fishery disaster” area, following the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida.

Graves is calling for the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately make a “Fishery disaster determination” due to “both the biological resources and fishery infrastructure sustaining major damage related to Hurricane Ida,” Graves said in a news release.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Hurricane Ida Devastates Louisiana Seafood Industry, Infrastructure Completely Destroyed

September 2, 2021 — Hurricane Ida has left a path of destruction through Louisiana, and in that path was seafood community after seafood community. As people across southeastern Louisiana began to take in the scale of damage, the task has been severely hindered by widespread power outages and limited phone service.

Ater landing at near-category 5 hurricane strength, Hurricane Ida made landfall with an immense storm surge riveting through coastal areas with winds gusting up to 172 miles per hour.

According to a statement by Louisiana Sea Grant’s Thomas Hymel, “docks in Dulac were heavily damaged, as well as Lafourche and Terrabonne parishes.”

Montegut fisherman Lance Nacio told Gulf Seafood News, fishermen and their families are in need of fuel and water.  “Roads are just clearing. Its bad here, really bad,” he said. “A majority of the boats made it through the storm, but the seafood communities infrastructure and homes have been severely damaged.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

Louisiana crawfish processor forced to pay USD 140,000 for labor law violations

August 27, 2021 — Crowley, Louisiana, U.S.A.-based Acadia Processors has paid USD 138,629 (EUR 118,000) after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found it owed back wages to 100 employees.

In June 2020, the Center for Migrant Rights filed a whistleblower complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on behalf of two former Acadia Processors workers who tested positive for COVID-19.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The rise of alternative oyster growing methods in the USA

August 25, 2021 — A new range of off-bottom cultivation techniques, backed by positive reports and state incentives, is beginning to supplement traditional oyster farming methods in Louisiana.

When many people think of oysters they envision a cluster of odd-shaped, rock-like objects, typically growing on some hard surface on or near the seafloor. According to FAO figures, in 1952 global oyster aquaculture production surpassed wild harvests for the first time – with 306,930 and 302,526 tonnes reported, respectively. Aquaculture production has consistently exceeded wild oyster harvests since that time, and in 2019 accounted for 6,125,606 tonnes, compared to 133,984 tonnes of wild-harvested. Traditional culture methods relied (and still rely, in many regions) on natural setting of wild larvae on suitable benthic substrates. But there are other ways to grow oysters, and these techniques can result in significantly greater production volumes.

Off-bottom oyster culture utilises trays, baskets, cages, or hanging lines/ropes mounted on racks or suspended from floats or rafts. This approach allows for more access to natural foods and avoidance of many fouling organisms and predators. Fouling organisms still occur, but one remedy that can be adopted in off-bottom culture involves regular exposure of oysters to the air (weekly or biweekly), in such a way as to inhibit growth and survival of fouling organisms, while oysters close their shells and wait patiently until they are re-submerged.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

LOUISIANA: CARES deadline for fishermen is this week

August 23, 2021 — The application period for CARES relief funds ends next week, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says.

“Just a reminder that the application period for the CARES 2.0 relief funds is open for one more week. LDWF will accept applications through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 29, 2021. A total of $12.4 million is available to Louisiana fishermen and others in the industry who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualified applicants will receive direct aid payments from Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission,” a post from the agency states.

For more information about the program, and to access the application, go to: www.wlf.la.gov/page/cares-act-assistance.

Read the full story at KATC

Judge to consider injunction on turtle excluder rule for US shrimpers

August 16, 2021 — A federal judge in the U.S. state of Louisiana will hold a hearing on Tuesday, 24 August to determine if an injunction should be issued against NOAA Fisheries that would require the agency to postpone implementing a rule mandating shrimp fishermen install turtle excluder devices on their inshore skimmers.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry sought the restraining order after NOAA Fisheries failed to continue a delay on a 2019 final rule that called for the excluder devices. In an announcement on 20 December, 2019, the agency said the final rule would take effect on 1 April 2021.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Louisiana sues feds over ‘devastating’ rule for its shrimpers

August 13, 2021 — Louisiana’s attorney general has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in New Orleans federal court to stop it from implementing a regulation that obliges certain shrimp fishermen to install devices that keep endangered sea turtles out of their catch.

In a Wednesday complaint, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the rule that took effect on Aug. 1, about a week before the beginning of the state’s shrimping season, will have “devastating consequences” on the fishermen’s already thin profit margins, and has sowed confusion with fishermen unable to find enough suppliers of so-called turtle-excluder devices for their fishing nets because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the supply chain.

Landry makes claims that the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirements for reasoned decision-making.

NMFS spokesperson Kate Brogan said the agency is reviewing the complaint.

Read the full story at Reuters