La. House passes bill to regulate the Menhaden fishery in Louisiana but Senate may kill

Caught by the millions off the Louisiana coast each year, menhaden are processed into fertilizer, animal feed and health supplements. More pounds of menhaden are netted each year in the state’s waters than the combined hauls of the state’s better-known fisheries, including shrimp, crab, oysters and crawfish.

Rep. Beryl Amedée, R-Houma, rejected the idea that Louisiana fishery rules should follow the lead of other states. Texas has menhaden catch limits and near-coast exclusion zones, Alabama and Mississippi have exclusion zones, and Florida prohibits all large-net fishing in its waters. East Coast states also have menhaden catch limits and other restrictions.

“The restrictions in other states are not necessary in Louisiana because our coast is different; we have a working coast,” Amedée said.

House Bill 1033 would cap the menhaden catch in Louisiana waters at 573 million pounds per year and require menhaden fishing vessels to report daily locations and catch amounts to the state.

The menhaden industry has avoided regulation in Louisiana while other Gulf of Mexico states have tightened rules, enacting catch limits and fishing exclusion zones to protect the many species that depend on the pencil-length fish for food.

What's more, menhaden nets snag more than menhaden. The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has received an increasing number of complaints about menhaden bycatch and the trails of dead redfish and trout left in the wakes of menhaden ships, which sometimes come within a few hundred yards of the shore.

“With this indiscriminate type of take, everything is affected,” Orgeron said.

NOLA