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Lake Pontchartrain basin blue crab fishery in trouble?
Posted on 3/19/15 at 9:13 am
Posted on 3/19/15 at 9:13 am
I've noticed that a lot of seafood dealers are having a hell of time again this year finding blue crabs because the commercial crabs fisherman aren't catching any or very few are being brought in.
Earlier this week BP cleaned up a 100 ft (30 meters) long mat of BP oil from Grand Terre. This stuff is still coming in to the marshes and no one is cleaning this weathered oil up in the Biloxi Marsh area because its sight unseen unlike the sand beaches of Grand Terre. I'm starting to get really concerned about the Louisiana fishery as time goes forward because the fishing has really been off across all sectors the last two years.
LINK /
"And other species have taken a hit as well. Louisiana’s data shows that blue crab catches are down an average of 18 percent, and brown shrimp slid 39 percent compared with the 2002-2009 haul."
"According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the oyster population in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin dropped a staggering 71 percent between 2009 and 2012. Statewide, the harvest has dipped 27 percent. Experts blame the decline on both the BP spill that blanketed the coast in oil in 2010 and the freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River the state has used in controversial attempts to push the oil out to sea and save New Orleans from floods."
LINK /
Earlier this week BP cleaned up a 100 ft (30 meters) long mat of BP oil from Grand Terre. This stuff is still coming in to the marshes and no one is cleaning this weathered oil up in the Biloxi Marsh area because its sight unseen unlike the sand beaches of Grand Terre. I'm starting to get really concerned about the Louisiana fishery as time goes forward because the fishing has really been off across all sectors the last two years.
LINK /
"And other species have taken a hit as well. Louisiana’s data shows that blue crab catches are down an average of 18 percent, and brown shrimp slid 39 percent compared with the 2002-2009 haul."
"According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the oyster population in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin dropped a staggering 71 percent between 2009 and 2012. Statewide, the harvest has dipped 27 percent. Experts blame the decline on both the BP spill that blanketed the coast in oil in 2010 and the freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River the state has used in controversial attempts to push the oil out to sea and save New Orleans from floods."
LINK /
2
Posted on 3/19/15 at 9:45 am to MrLSU
Don't link that oyster-man propaganda. Ugh. What a terrible article and website.
Freshwater diversions are not killing the marsh. Oyster fishermen always complain but in reality a lot of them are fishing areas that historically were freshwater but due to salt-water intrusion (thanks to the O&G canals ironically) are now brackish enough to support oysters. If we blow more freshwater into the marsh, then they are correct that the oysters may never return to their current locations - but they will start showing up in areas that they currently don't thrive in. It's a give and take. Yes the O&G industry exacerbated issues with coastal erosion but to suggest that a) the state is making it worse with their current efforts or that b) the BP oil spill will have any long-term effect on the health of the LA coastal marshes and fisheries is extremely short-sighted and just wrong. The amount of oil BP leaked is less than the amount that naturally seeps from the ocean floor in the Gulf on an annual basis.
Edited for clarification. In the gulf, not the entire ocean...
Freshwater diversions are not killing the marsh. Oyster fishermen always complain but in reality a lot of them are fishing areas that historically were freshwater but due to salt-water intrusion (thanks to the O&G canals ironically) are now brackish enough to support oysters. If we blow more freshwater into the marsh, then they are correct that the oysters may never return to their current locations - but they will start showing up in areas that they currently don't thrive in. It's a give and take. Yes the O&G industry exacerbated issues with coastal erosion but to suggest that a) the state is making it worse with their current efforts or that b) the BP oil spill will have any long-term effect on the health of the LA coastal marshes and fisheries is extremely short-sighted and just wrong. The amount of oil BP leaked is less than the amount that naturally seeps from the ocean floor in the Gulf on an annual basis.
Edited for clarification. In the gulf, not the entire ocean...
This post was edited on 3/19/15 at 10:08 am
Posted on 3/19/15 at 9:59 am to The Last Coco
excellent post
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:00 am to The Last Coco
quote:
the BP oil spill will have any long-term effect on the health of the LA coastal marshes and fisheries is extremely short-sighted and just wrong.
Debatable.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:01 am to The Last Coco
quote:
The amount of oil BP leaked is less than the amount that naturally seeps from the ocean floor on an annual basis.
Are you comparing one well to the entire ocean floor?
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:06 am to RATeamWannabe
quote:
Are you comparing one well to the entire ocean floor?
Should have clarified, its less than the seepage that occurs in the Gulf in a year, not the entire ocean. Point being, in the grand scheme of things it's not a lot of oil added to the system. Tar balls and oil washing up on the barrier islands and coastal marshes has been happening forever.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:10 am to RATeamWannabe
quote:
Are you comparing one well to the entire ocean floor?
Right. I often hear the reference to what was leaked being less than natural seepage, but that doesn't take into account the mass volume in one location that washed directly onshore.
There is no answer as to the long term affects as we have not entered into the "long term" yet. But to say that the oil spill had little to no effect on our coastal marshes seems a little short sighted to me.
Full disclosure, I work in O&G so I'm not coming at this from the green party angle. I just like to argue, and have a general concern for the health of our coastal ecosystem as a fish catching seafood lover.
This post was edited on 3/19/15 at 10:11 am
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:10 am to The Last Coco
I think more harm was done with dispersants than the oil.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:11 am to Clyde Tipton
IMO the blue crab fishery is over fished. No limits on pounds caught, amount of traps or days fished. Couple that with the possibility of the dispersant killing the larvae and you have a recipe for a major problem.
This post was edited on 3/19/15 at 10:13 am
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:17 am to Clyde Tipton
quote:
Right. I often hear the reference to what was leaked being less than natural seepage, but that doesn't take into account the mass volume in one location that washed directly onshore.
But the vast majority didn't wash onshore.
quote:
But to say that the oil spill had little to no effect on our coastal marshes seems a little short sighted to me.
It's oil. It's a natural substance the marshes are used to handling. Was there some immediate short-term impact due to high concentrations that overwhelmed small sections of marsh? Absolutely. Will there be long-term impacts to the health of the marsh? In my professional opinion, no.
quote:
I'm not coming at this from the green party angle.
I know you're not, but that website is a load of shite. Bunch of eco-propaganda on that site.
quote:
I think more harm was done with dispersants than the oil.
Truth
This post was edited on 3/19/15 at 10:18 am
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:28 am to The Last Coco
quote:
It's oil. It's a natural substance
Mercury is a natural substance too, I wouldn't want to drink or eat it though.
quote:
Will there be long-term impacts to the health of the marsh? In my professional opinion, no.
I hope you are right. But as I alluded to with the mercury point. Sure fish can handle a little, but dump and excessive amount in the ecosystem and natural handling capabilities is a moot point, as the conditions or ratios have changed. Scientifically speaking, you have great data for a control set, but the "new experiment" involves upping the dosage. Those are the results to come in the long term.
Again, we all hope it will be okay, but to ignore a serious change from the normal conditions would not be wise.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:39 am to Clyde Tipton
quote:
but to ignore a serious change from the normal conditions would not be wise.
Agreed. I am not suggesting anyone ignore it. But until it is proven to have had anything other than an acute impact on the system, I will continue to maintain that the long term affects are minimal at worst.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 10:44 am to The Last Coco
quote:
until it is proven
This I agree with. I think it will take man more years to draw final conclusions.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 11:11 am to The Last Coco
I'm not which was worse, the oil or the Corexit.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 12:00 pm to Barf
Sad if true.
When I was a teenager, I had about 100 crab traps out there. My uncle would tell me, "In the 70's, we'd catch so many more crabs," and I could see the sadness in his eyes.
Sad that I can say the same less than 20 years later.
When I was a teenager, I had about 100 crab traps out there. My uncle would tell me, "In the 70's, we'd catch so many more crabs," and I could see the sadness in his eyes.
Sad that I can say the same less than 20 years later.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 1:54 pm to LSUfan20005
I think the explosion of the redfish population isn't helping either.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 1:58 pm to Me4Heisman
The guy we buy bait from mentioned redfish as one reason for decreased crab catches.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 2:54 pm to MrLSU
The people in Maryland must be really P/O'd...
Posted on 3/19/15 at 3:34 pm to The Last Coco
quote:
Freshwater diversions are not killing the marsh. Oyster fishermen always complain but in reality a lot of them are fishing areas that historically were freshwater but due to salt-water intrusion (thanks to the O&G canals ironically) are now brackish enough to support oysters. If we blow more freshwater into the marsh, then they are correct that the oysters may never return to their current locations - but they will start showing up in areas that they currently don't thrive in.
Posted on 3/19/15 at 3:36 pm to Me4Heisman
quote:
I think the explosion of the redfish population isn't helping either.
1.) I don't know if I'd say the redfish population is exploding
2.) It would have to be a hell of an explosion for it to put a dent in the redfish population.
3.) I would say that Blue Crabs are overharvested.
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