Saving Seafood

Op-Ed: Preserving our heritage and livelihood – A shrimper’s stand against unjust regulations

January 18, 2024 — I’ve been a shrimper for over 45 years. It’s more than just a job; it’s a legacy that’s been passed down through generations in my family. Since I was 15, I’ve been working in the waters of Plaquemines Parish, my workplace, my passion, and my source of livelihood. Today, as I continue to bring the finest Gulf shrimp to your tables, I find myself fighting not only for my job but for the very soul of Louisiana’s shrimping heritage.

The recent rule by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) mandating the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) on skimmer trawl vessels longer than 40 feet is a real threat to our community. This rule, though it may seem well-intentioned, is an example of overreach and disregard for our industry’s reality. That’s why, under my leadership, the Louisiana Shrimp Association is taking a stand by suing against this unfair regulation on the same day the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the power of faraway bureaucrats in the Loper Bright case.

Our challenge isn’t about denying environmental stewardship; we shrimpers understand the importance of preserving marine life more than anyone else. Our problem lies in the NMFS’s lack of consideration for the real-world reasons and impact of this rule. Studies show that there is minimal interaction between sea turtles and shrimpers in the waters where we mostly operate, and our waters aren’t primary nesting sites for these creatures. However, the NMFS chose to ignore this evidence and push through a rule that could devastate our industry.

Read the full article at The Center Square

Louisiana shrimpers sue feds over rule requiring sea turtle safety device on skimmer trawls

January 18, 2024 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over a federal rule that forces certain kinds of boats to use devices that allow turtles to escape fishing nets unharmed, the shrimper organization announced Wednesday.

Introduced in 2021 by the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, the rule requires skimmer trawl vessels to equip turtle excluder devices, which let sea turtles escape when caught in a fisherman’s net. Skimmer trawl vessels have an L-shaped frame that allows for nets to be deployed below the boat in shallow, nearshore waters. The vessels are at risk for picking up sea turtles that live close to the surface, according to NOAA Fisheries.

The lawsuit, filed in New Orleans federal court on behalf of the Louisiana Shrimp Association by the Pelican Institute’s Center for Justice, says the rule violates federal law by failing to consider that sea turtles do not interact with shrimpers in inshore waters, according to a news release from the institute. The suit also claims sea turtle nesting sites are “thriving.”

Read the full article at NOLA

LOUISIANA: Louisiana seeing a tough start to crawfish season in 2024

January 16, 2024 — Boiled Louisiana crawfish go for as much as $16.99 a pound in the New Orleans metropolitan area. This is as the local crawfish industry faces many problems in this new year.

Seafood businesses said last year’s drought and the freezing weather are the causes.

Denny Lacoste is the owner of Dennis’ Seafood in Metairie. Lacoste said 2024 has not been good for his Metairie business.

Pots that sit in his kitchen would usually hold lots of crawfish this time of year. But right now, they are empty.

“This does not look good right now,” Lacoste said.

The 2023 drought killed crawfish that grow underground. This leaves Lacoste with no mudbugs to sell.

“It’s a big part of the business,” he said. They’re saying they are going to be very expensive and hard to get.”

He said crawfish would cost him $10 a pound wholesale. Lacoste said that is not something he is willing to do.

Read the full article at Fox 8

Federal lawsuit targets Louisiana coastal restoration project

January 13, 2024 — A pair of Louisiana seafood processors joined conservationists and a local resident Thursday to file a federal complaint against the ambitious Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project, a $2.9 billion effort to combat the state’s trend of coastal land loss.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs claim the project “will have serious, permanent, adverse impacts on [the basin’s] resources,” including its species diversity, its economy and human health.

They say that in authorizing the project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated administrative procedures and the National Environmental Policy Review Act (NEPA), while federal agencies conducting environmental reviews violated the Endangered Species Act.

The project, which is primarily funded with $2.26 billion from Natural Resource Damage Assessment funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement, broke ground in August 2023. A joint effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, it will feature a controlled gate structure through the river’s existing levee connected to a new, approximately 2-mile manmade channel with an outfall structure in the basin.

Read the full article at the Courthouse News Service

LA.: Pushing pogy fleet offshore could prove costly to industry

December 12, 2023 — Pushing commercial menhaden fishing farther off the Louisiana coast may appease anglers and conservationists, but it would come at a heavy cost to the industry, according to a new report from state economists.

The two companies operating what amounts to Louisiana’s largest fishery could lose about $31 million per year and shed up to 90 jobs if the state approves a plan to restrict menhaden fishing within a mile of the coast, an economic impact report by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Court rules against feds in charterboat case

December 4, 2023 — There are enough federally permitted charterboat operations in Louisiana to warrant attention from the latest ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The ruling turns aside a U.S. Department of Commerce regulation which demanded these charterboat operators install a constant (24-hour) GPS tracking device on their vessels and report what opponents considered to be “confidential economic data” to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance took up the cause for the Mexican Gulf Fishing Company, et al. (meaning more than 1,300 federally permitted charterboat operations) in a plea to the courts to have the requirement declared unconstitutional on a violation of the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights.

Read the full story at The Advocate

Menhaden fishermen say proposed Louisiana buffers threaten fishing communities

October 14, 2023 — Ocean Harvesters and Westbank Fishing are extremely concerned with last week’s decision by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to approve a Notice of Intent (NOI) that would impose a one-mile buffer zone for menhaden fishing along the state’s coastline and a 3-mile buffer around Cameron Parish in Southwest Louisiana.

We believe that this decision is not supported by any scientific evidence and will be economically harmful to the menhaden fishery and Louisiana’s fishing communities.

We believe Louisiana’s waters should be shared by all user groups. The new coastwide buffer zone is not necessary for menhaden management. Rather, it’s the result of a long-debated, often political, user conflict that’s already been considered and defeated by the Louisiana Legislature and this Commission. Simply put, these new buffer zones prioritize recreational anglers over commercial fishermen.

Additionally, the Commission chose to move forward without consideration of economic data.  As numerous fishing captains have previously testified before the Commission, this NOI will have real and lasting economic harm and threaten the long-term viability of their operations.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LOUISIANA: Edwards requests emergency declaration to help Louisiana shrimping industry

September 17, 2023 — Gov. John Bel Edwards has requested an emergency declaration for disaster relief for Louisiana shrimpers amid a flood of foreign shrimp that has driven dockside prices to below $1 per pound.

Edwards made the request in late August at the behest of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, which penned a letter to the governor in August seeking the declaration, the first step in securing disaster relief funding for shrimpers from the federal government.

“Louisiana will be pursuing a federal fisheries disaster declaration from the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Edwards wrote to association president Acy Cooper.

Read the full article at The Center Square

LOUISIANA: GOP says Biden administration protecting whales instead of Louisiana jobs

September 2, 2023 — U.S. House Republicans are preparing to investigate a recent court settlement that pits one of the world’s most endangered marine mammals against potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and thousands of jobs for Louisiana.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said President Joe Biden’s administration created the confrontation by using the settlement of a federal lawsuit in Maryland to circumvent time-consuming environmental regulatory procedures.

The Aug. 23 deal expands the protected Gulf of Mexico habitat of Rice’s whales — the only indigenous whale in American waters.

Only about 100 Rice’s whales exist, mostly off Florida’s coast, where there is little oil and gas activity. Recently, sonar findings, a confirmed sighting in 2017 and an unconfirmed sighting in July indicate that the whales — which measure about 40 feet long and weigh about 60,000 pounds — may also live off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, where there is far more energy activity.

Read the full article at Nola.com