Saving Seafood

News for the Gulf of Mexico Region

LOUISIANA: Oyster shortage causes closed harvest areas

September 12, 2016 — GRETNA, La. — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says the state’s oyster industry is suffering and as a result, several harvesting areas will be off-limits.

WDSU-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2cjCgEK) that oyster season opened Wednesday in parts of Louisiana. However, a low oyster population is causing problems for oyster farmers.

Factors contributing to the low resources include too much fresh water in the areas in which the oysters grow and the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

Oyster farmer Matthew Lepetich says he believes the oyster stock never recovered after Hurricane Katrina.

LOUISIANA: Red snapper dispute continued at Wednesday meeting

September 8, 2016 — The war of words continued Wednesday during an all-day meeting in Baton Rouge designed to educate members of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission on red snapper management.

A surrogate of Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, presented a letter declaring states would not be responsible for research funding under HR 3094, a bill authored by Graves and Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, that would transfer management authority to Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

That directly contradicted charges made by Charlie Melancon, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, that the bill became an unfunded mandate when Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, tacked an amendment to it.

“Amending things to death is how you kill a bill,” Melancon told the crowd of industry leaders and interested anglers Wednesday. “What was done to (HR 3094) was an attempt to kill the bill.”

But Paul Sawyer, Graves’ chief of staff, presented a letter, signed by Bishop, stating that his amendment merely banned the transfer of funds to the states for fisheries research because that research would continue to be conducted by NOAA Fisheries.

“Existing NOAA data collection on red snapper stocks is unaffected by my amendment, and nothing precludes the federal government from sharing that data or existing research activities with the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority to inform and assist with state management,” Bishop said in the letter.

Read the full story at The Times Picayune

LOUISIANA: Oyster farmers brace for slow season; shortages close harvest areas

September 8, 2016 — JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Oyster season opened Wednesday, but only in parts of Louisiana. Reports from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries do not look good for oyster stock or oyster farmers.

Louisiana is the biggest oyster-producing state in the nation. According to figures from 2014, it is a $317 million industry employing about 3,500 people. But the industry is suffering, and several harvesting areas will be off-limits because of shortages.

Factors contributing to the low resources include too much fresh water in the areas in which the oysters grow and the 2010 Gulf Oil spill, which has led to a steady decline in production.

“It’s getting worse and worse, and I don’t know where it goes from here,” said Matthew Lepetich, a second-generation oyster farmer and owner of Mato’s Premium Oysters. “I remember this time of the year, right after Labor Day, we were getting the boats ready and we were going to work.”

On opening day of this season, however, Lepetich was nowhere near the water, “because there’s no season. There’s no seed. There’s no oyster. There’s nothing, and it’s been that way for several years. Ever since Katrina, it never really recovered because Katrina knocked holes in the levee and they haven’t filled them,” he said.”

Read the full story at WDSU

FLORIDA: Red Snapper Season Reopens In September

August 31, 2016 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is opening up weekends in September and October for recreational red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Residents will be able to fish Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting Sept. 2 and on Labor Day.

The daily bag limit is two fish per person with a fish minimum size limit of 16 inches.

In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration kept commercial and recreational red snapper fishing in South Atlantic federal waters closed. This was due to exceeding the allowable catch limit in the 2015 season.

Read the full story at WFSU

LOUISIANA: Red Snapper Season Will Close September 5

August 29, 2016 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced that the state recreational red snapper season will close at 11:59 p.m. on September 5, 2016.

Preliminary estimates from the LA Creel survey indicate that the Department’s self-imposed quota of 1,116,732 pounds of red snapper for the private and charter sectors of the recreational fishery is projected to be harvested by September 5, 2016. Closing the season in state waters avoids an overrun of the overall Gulf of Mexico recreational quota and allows the red snapper stock to continue rebuilding. The Secretary of the Department has the authority to re-open the recreational season, as has been done in previous years, for additional recreational harvest if finalized landings data indicate such harvest would be within conservation targets.

The state red snapper season, which opened on January 8, allowed anglers an opportunity to harvest recreational red snapper for 242 days in state waters.

Read the full story at The Outdoor Wire

LOUISIANA: Scientists: Saving the coast does not necessarily mean destroying fisheries

August 26, 2016 — George Ricks represents one of the great ironies in the debate over how to restore and protect parts of Louisiana’s rapidly-vanishing coast.

Like many of those who depend most on Louisiana’s estuaries, the charter boat captain is deeply skeptical of the state’s plans to build massive structures and deliver Mississippi River sediment into the marsh with the aim of building land.

“They’re going to turn both of the estuaries, Barataria and Breton, totally fresh from February to July,” said Ricks, “which is going to wipe out our spawning seasons.”

A group of scientists and community experts came together to examine not whether to building diversions, but how they would be operated.

“When people come to New Orleans, they want to eat oysters, they want to eat seafood. they want to eat shrimp,” said Dr. Earl Melancon, Ph.D., a Nicholls State University expert on shellfish.

Melancon was one of a dozen experts who, in essence, tackled the question of whether it is possible to partially free the Mississippi River from its straight jacket of levees without ruining an entire way of life.

Read the full story at Fox 8 New Orleans

LOUISIANA: Rescue in severe weather earns agent prestigious award

August 25, 2016 — The word ‘hero’ is sometimes thrown around too lightly, but no one can argue it doesn’t apply to Nicholas Guillory, a sergeant with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Enforcement Division. As many as eight people are alive today because of Guillory’s actions last September, and his courage earned him a commendation from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council last week in New Orleans.

During a severe thunderstorm almost a year ago, Guillory received a distress call from a boat taking on water in the Gulf of Mexico near Pecan Island. Conditions were horrendous, but Guillory decided to launch his 19-foot patrol boat and attempt the rescue anyway.

“As I traveled toward the Gulf of Mexico, I couldn’t even see the bow of my own vessel because the rainfall was so heavy,” he said.

Read the full story at the New Orleans Times-Picayune

American Fisheries Society recognizes Bill Hogarth with top conservation award

August 23, 2016 — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The American Fisheries Society is honoring recently retired Florida Institute of Oceanography Director Bill Hogarth with the Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award – one of the nation’s premier awards in fisheries science – in recognition of his long career and leadership in preserving some of the world’s most threatened species, advocating for environmental protections and leading Florida’s scientific response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The award recognizes a wide span of achievements in Hogarth’s 51-year-career in marine science, beginning with his research into threatened fish species; his roles as director of the National Marine Fisheries Service and chairman of the International Whaling Commission; and his service as the former dean of the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science and Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography. During his career, Hogarth is credited with bringing greater international attention to preserving threatened fish species such as the Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna and sharks, and serving as a credible voice for independent science in preserving and protecting the world’s oceans. Hogarth retired as FIO’s director on July 31.

The award is to be presented at the AFS annual meeting on Aug. 22, in Kansas City, Mo.

“Bill Hogarth has had a singularly diverse but enormously influential career in fisheries,” said USF Professor Steve Murawski in his nomination of Hogarth for the honor. “Although his professional roles have changed over the years, he has found a way to make a significant difference in the management of fisheries and in the lives of people with which he has worked. His accomplishments have been many and diverse, but always significant.”

Read the full story at Eureka Alert

NOAA Seeks Comments on an Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit for a Study to Test Trap Designs for Capturing Lionfish

August 17, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is accepting comments on an application for an exempted fishing permit from the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (FKCFA). The FKCFA proposes to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of several trap designs for capturing lionfish in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. This study, to be conducted in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, would also derive biological and life history information to improve lionfish control. In addition, the project would utilize an outreach and education program to inform the public about the status of lionfish as an invasive species, efforts to control the spread of the population, and lionfish as a consumer food source.

Dates:

Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 15, 2016.

Addresses:

You may submit comments on the application, identified by RIN 0648-XE046, by any of the following methods:

E-mail: 0648.XE046.Association.Lionfish.EFP@noaa.gov

. Include in the subject line of the e-mail the following document identifier: “Lionfish EFP.”

Mail: Susan Gerhart, NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Program Concept

The one-year monthly sampling program would occur year-round aboard FKCFA commercial fishing vessels. The proposal has yet to be funded, thus the intensity of sampling cannot be estimated at this time. FKCFA would fish 25 units of four different trap designs on each set, not to exceed 100 days per year in each area, to determine which designs are most productive. Initial sampling would occur off South Carolina, both coasts of Florida, and in the Florida Keys.

NOAA Fisheries finds this application warrants further consideration, and is seeking public comment on the application. A final decision on issuance of the exempted fishing permit will depend on NOAA Fisheries’ review of public comments received, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s recommendation, consultations with the affected states, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it is consistent with all applicable laws.