September 6, 2019 — After devastating commercial fishery losses in Louisiana and Mississippi following freshwater intrusion from the Bonnet Carre Spillway opening earlier this year, officials are working on recovery efforts.
On 6 September, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) and the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory released around 90,000 juvenile spotted seatrout (speckled trout) into Hancock County waters.
June 26, 2019 — Louisiana and Mississippi government warnings not to eat fish from certain areas of the states are causing the seafood industry concern.
After an algae bloom developed when the Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened to alleviate flooding along the Mississippi River, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued beach closures in Hancock and Harrison counties along the Gulf of Mexico.
Subsequently, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is advising the public to not eat fish or any other seafood taken from “affected waters or in proximity to the beach closures,” MDMR said in a statement. “The public’s safety is very important to our state and our agency will continue working closely with MDEQ to monitor our waters and our seafood.”
The Louisiana Department of Health is also warning the public about a potentially large algae bloom that is developing on Lake Pontchartrain, “while algae toxins have not been found in the edible parts of fish, LDH advises that fish not be harvested or eaten from the lake during the bloom,” the agency said in a statement.
In southern Mississippi, news reports on the beach closures and seafood caution are causing concerns among consumers and the seafood industry.
June 12, 2017 — As officials seek full recovery of the once disastrously depleted red snapper population in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf states are considering a proposed compromise on a contentious three-day federal red snapper season for recreational anglers.
The Commerce Department has said that if the Gulf states close waters to recreational redfish anglers on weekdays at least through Labor Day, a federal season will run the weekends of June 17 through Sept. 4.
If recreational anglers haven’t reached their 3 million-pound (nearly 1.4 million kilogram) quota by then, states could reopen their waters for a fall season.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted 5-0 for the proposal Monday.
Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida also are being asked to approve it.
Patrick Banks, head of fisheries for Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told commissioners that an online survey of nearly 5,000 anglers found that they preferred an alternative that would have added Friday to the weekends.
However, that proposal also would have required states to give up the chance for a fall season in state waters. Texas — which has a year-round recreational red snapper season — balked at that, Banks said.
Texas is holding three public hearings Monday night along the coast and a webinar Tuesday. Alabama officials asked for public comment in a Facebook posting Friday, the same day that Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held a conference call to gauge public comment.
Mississippi, like Louisiana, sent surveys to people who have participated in red snapper landing counts, said Paul Mickle, chief scientific officer at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. He said more than 500 people have responded so far.
The Commerce Department made the proposal after talks with state congressional delegations, said Jack Montoucet, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. He said the proposal apparently came from outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which set the three-day season held earlier this month.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Austin American-Statesman
June 22, 2016 — In F.J. Eicke’s “Near-shore fishing for menhaden needs tighter regulation” letter (June 3), he blames the fishery for a recent fish die-off in Gulfport and Long Beach.
The best available science on the incident disputes Mr. Eicke’s claim. Scientists with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources investigated the die-off, concluding the menhaden that washed up on the shore most likely died of natural causes.
Their conclusion was based on a number of factors, specifically the amount of dead fish, which given how low it was, is unlikely that a commercial fishing vessel is to blame.