May 20, 2021 — After decades under lax regulation, the Louisiana House voted 67-28 Wednesday to require the state’s largest commercial fishery to cast its nets farther from the state’s fragile coastline.
Louisiana waters supplied 40% of the menhaden caught in 2019 across the United States, a catch worth tens of millions of dollars, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. In a given year, the industry’s 180-foot-long vessels and 1,500-foot-long nets ensnare 700 million to 1 billion pounds of the tiny, dart-like silver fish off the state’s shores.
But if House Bill 535 becomes law, Louisiana would forbid menhaden trawling within a half mile of shore, to reduce coastal erosion and limit damage to shallow nurseries of popular game fish species such as redfish and speckled trout. The bill now goes to the Senate. (Here’s how the House voted.)
Menhaden, also known as pogies or shad, are a keystone species in marine ecosystems, providing food for a wide range of larger fish and birds. When caught commercially, the oil-rich fish is ground up into animal feed, health supplements and fertilizers.
In negotiating the latest bill’s text, menhaden industry representatives stood firmly behind a quarter-mile exclusion zone, stating reports from recreational anglers were hyperbolic. Omega Proteins owns two of the three menhaden reduction plants on the Gulf Coast; Daybrook Fisheries owns the other. Louisiana hosts one in Abbeville and one in Empire.
Omega Proteins’ public affairs manager, Ben Landry, said a half-mile exclusion could cut into the industry’s bottom line as almost one fifth of menhaden harvest occurs within a half mile of the coast. That means some could lose jobs.
“I’m not saying some of that won’t be made up outside of that half mile,” Landry said. “But I can’t promise you that. Who’s family around here could face a 20% cut and then be told, ‘Oh, that’s not going to impact you.'”