August 31, 2021 — Blasting onshore at the end of August, Hurricane Ida sent its immense storm surge coursing through coastal areas of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with winds reportedly gusting up to 172 miles per hour.
After landing at near-category 5 hurricane strength, Ida passed between Galliano and Houma, Louisiana, sustaining 130 mph winds. Through Sunday, 29 August.
October 16, 2017 — WASHINGTON — Internal memos show top Trump administration officials knew extending the recreational fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico from three to 42 days this summer would lead to significant overfishing.
But they did it anyway.
In memos released in response to a lawsuit, Commerce Department officials defended the move by saying that keeping the three-day season would be “devastating” to the recreational marine industry and the communities whose economies are tied to it.
And extending the time would also help solve a long-running dispute with states who have much longer seasons and want to wrest control of red snapper management from federal managers, they argued.
“It would result in overfishing of the stock by six million pounds (40%), which will draw criticism from environmental groups and commercial fishermen,” Earl Comstock, director of Policy and Strategic Planning for Commerce, conceded in a June 1 memo to his boss, Secretary Wilbur Ross. “However NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) agrees that this stock could handle this level on a temporary basis.”
September 23, 2016 — Fishermen will be able to provide input for coral protection areas in the Gulf of Mexico at a workshop Monday hosted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott, 142 Library Drive, Houma.
The council’s scientists recommended protecting 47 areas in the Gulf, but with the help of the Coral Advisory Panel and Shrimp Advisory Panel, the number has been narrowed to 15 priority areas.
The meeting is to get feedback from fishermen who use bottom-contacting gear in federal waters in the Gulf before the council begins its public scoping process. Another meeting is to be held in Alabama.
“Most of the areas, no one fishes in, but there is one area off the boot of Louisiana and several off Texas and Florida where there is some fishing activity. They want to get feedback from fishermen to see how much impact it would have to fisheries,” said Julie Falgout, seafood industry liaison with Louisiana SeaGrant.
Generally, fishermen won’t trawl in areas where there are coral reefs as it would damage gear, Falgout said. But when a reef area is protected, there is an additional boundary area that surrounds the reef that may impact fishing.
“The council wants feedback from the fishermen to see if it’s going to be a big problem for a lot of fishermen or for one or two fishermen and see if they need to go back to the drawing board to rework the maps,” she said.