Big Lake Oyster assessment

[Ray]

The LDWF assessment for Big Lake is done by randomly throwing a 3' by 3' square frame on a known oyster reef in the month of July. There are samples in this area taken by SCUBA diver at each station for each portion of the lake. They remove all of the dead and live oysters adn shells on top of the sub base. The live and recently dead oysters are measured and divided ito 3 categories. Spat <25 mm, seed oysters 25mm to 74mm and sack oysters > 74mm(3 inches). Oyster predators such as hooked mussels are collected, identified and tallied also.

Growing area 29, East side of Big Lake, south of Long Point indicates 94.3% decrease in sack oysters from the 2009 assessment. Seed oysters showed a 93.3% decrease.
Growing area 30, West Cove, showed an increase of 229.5% from the 2009 assessment of sack oysters and a 387.8% increase in seed oysters. Guess where the oyster fishermen are gonna be this year???

The 14 acre Oyster cultch plant by Mark Thompsons camp North of Cameron indicates presents of spat and seed oysters, but no sack oysters. Mortality on the cultch plant was 4% over the last year.

Overall Oyster assessment is up 7% from the 2005-2009 average, but is offset by the decrease on the East side. The LDWF is concerned by the sharp decrease on the East side. The oysters on the reefs are healthy, but the amount has declined dramatically. There is an increase in harvest vessels from 38 boats in 2006 to 149 boats in 2009. Those are average numbers. The highest number of boats in Big Lake was Jan. 2010 at 190 registered harvest vessels dragging dredges in Big Lake. That is way too many for our lake.

In 2008 season, there were about 64,000 sacks landed and in the 2009 season, there was about 137,000 sacks landed. Double the oysters. This, in my opinion, is gonna hurt our fishing also.

Hooked mussels were much lower this year than last year. East side had no Hooked Mussels in the samples. West Cove had a lot of them. One station had 168 Hooked Mussels in a sample area for the West Cove and another sample area had 346 Hooked Mussels. There were 13 Southern Oyster Drill Snails. This is a very high sample number for this area. Very few have ever been found in Big Lake samples.

Oyster harvesting pressure is starting to become more of a concern for the East side.

For the past 3 seasons the LDWF has urged the Oyster fishermen to utilize the West Cove, but they don't listen becuase the West Cove Oysters are less desireable for the market. They are calling them Lizard Tongues. Long and skinny. Not many buyers want them.

The price per sack and the lower manpower needed due to dredges, had a lot more boats fishing than the past years.

Commercial Oyster fishing was closed in Big Lake from 1967 to 1975 due to over harvesting by dredge. It took way too long to recover because Big Lake Oysters reefs are natural, not seeded like the East side of the state. From 1975 till 2004, it was hand tongs only, no dredges. Once the Oysters bounced back to a good number, they opened dredging again, except with dredges 3 ft or smaller and hand dredges only, no mechanical dredges.

They also close the East side when the water levels in Kinder reach 12 ft. and close the West Cove side when it gets to 7 ft. Once the levels fall below these numbers for 48 hours, they will reopen the waters for Oyster harvesting. This is for health reasons.


Looks like with the low numbers on the East side, the West Cove will be over fished this year. I will be fishing a lot more on the East side, where there will be less Oyster boats dragging.

[LaAngler]

that's a shame.

[Raymond]

For the past 3 seasons the LDWF has urged the Oyster fishermen to utilize the West Cove, but they don't listen becuase the West Cove Oysters are less desireable for the market. They are calling them Lizard Tongues. Long and skinny. Not many buyers want them.

URGED?????????????? Don't Listen???????????????????????:rolleyes:

The price per sack and the lower manpower needed due to dredges, had a lot more boats fishing than the past years.

Bet it doubles that 190 this year with the east side being shut down in most areas.
Is the oyster task force looking at any other variables other than oysters?
They should handle it just like they do with the alligator farms, harvest the eggs and return a % of the baby gators back into the wild. Do they (fishermen) have to reseed the reefs they are taking from???

[LaAngler]

LDWF is the problem, imagine that.

[Ray]

Big Lake reseeds itself. Oysters are all natural.
East side of La. the state seeds oysters and leases the water bottoms.
Those guys know if they catch everything this year, they will have to
wait 3 or 4 more years till they can catch again.
Get ready. West Cove is gonna get raped this year.

[Ray]

The oyster kill from all the fresh water the gov't let out of the Miss. River to push
the BP/Horizon oil out of the marshes will make the oyster cost go up too.
That will make the oyster fishermen fish more boats.
The state needs to change the rules to one license PER PERSON. Not one license
per boat. There are guys who have anywhere from 3 to 5 boats. They get 3 to 5
limits per day.
If they go back to manual tongs, they won't fish but one boat. It's too much work.
Dredges already killed the oyster population before, it will happen again. The state
will realize their mistake one of these days and have to shut it down for a few
years to let the oysters repopulate the lake again. Or go back to manual tongs.
The boat numbers will fall below 100 too.

[swamp snorkler]

For the past 3 seasons the LDWF has urged the Oyster fishermen to utilize the West Cove, but they don't listen becuase the West Cove Oysters are less desireable for the market. They are calling them Lizard Tongues. Long and skinny. Not many buyers want them.

URGED?????????????? Don't Listen???????????????????????:rolleyes:

The price per sack and the lower manpower needed due to dredges, had a lot more boats fishing than the past years.

Bet it doubles that 190 this year with the east side being shut down in most areas.
Is the oyster task force looking at any other variables other than oysters?
They should handle it just like they do with the alligator farms, harvest the eggs and return a % of the baby gators back into the wild. Do they (fishermen) have to reseed the reefs they are taking from???

On the east side Fisherman plant oysters all year long, they get seed oysters from one area and go dump them on a bed they own in order to harvest them in the winter.

[Raymond]

On the east side Fisherman plant oysters all year long, they get seed oysters from one area and go dump them on a bed they own in order to harvest them in the winter.

SS, I realize that and my question was meant to imply that our fishermen on the west side are only taking from the peoples resource and not putting in. We all have a vested interest in our natural resources be it fish,shrimp, crabs,ducks, deer, ect. Why can't the task force and fishermen see that raping the resource will cause it to implode. Instead of harvesting the "Golden Eggs", they are killing the "GOOSE". They have the history of the oyster reefs in Big Lake to see this and still they allow it to happen over and over again. Surely, the biologists can tell us how many sacks of oysters can be taken from the lake on a annual basis without hurting the resource. Set a quota for the lake or license and when it is reached shut it down. HELL, I am not a Mental Heavy Weight and can see where that would maintain the resource in perpatuity(sp).

[Ray]

On the east side Fisherman plant oysters all year long, they get seed oysters from one area and go dump them on a bed they own in order to harvest them in the winter.

When I said East Side, I meant East Side of Big Lake. Not East Side of Louisiana. I should have made that clearer.

Raymond, the people in the LDWF right now do not remember, or don't want to remember when the oysters were wiped out before in Big Lake.
It took 10 years to get them back to where they could be harvested again.

It takes around 3 to 4 years from spat to harvesting size(greater than 3 inches). But if you wipe them all out, it takes the few left a lot longer to repopulate the lake.
I am surprized at how many oysters the West Cove still holds after all the dredging from last winter.
But that is a good thing. They are releasing a lot of larvae into the lake for more to grow.
And the shallow reefs are harder to get to in the winter with oyster boats.
That may help also. North winds and low tides make it harder to get closer to the banks.
Another good thing, they don't let them harvest in the West Fork area. Those banks are full of oyster reefs.

[swamp snorkler]

SS, I realize that and my question was meant to imply that our fishermen on the west side are only taking from the peoples resource and not putting in. We all have a vested interest in our natural resources be it fish,shrimp, crabs,ducks, deer, ect. Why can't the task force and fishermen see that raping the resource will cause it to implode. Instead of harvesting the "Golden Eggs", they are killing the "GOOSE". They have the history of the oyster reefs in Big Lake to see this and still they allow it to happen over and over again. Surely, the biologists can tell us how many sacks of oysters can be taken from the lake on a annual basis without hurting the resource. Set a quota for the lake or license and when it is reached shut it down. HELL, I am not a Mental Heavy Weight and can see where that would maintain the resource in perpatuity(sp).
i agree, just about every other resource with the exception of shrimp and crabs have quotas, why oysters don't is beyond me.

[meaux fishing]

When I said East Side, I meant East Side of Big Lake. Not East Side of Louisiana. I should have made that clearer.

Raymond, the people in the LDWF right now do not remember, or don't want to remember when the oysters were wiped out before in Big Lake.
It took 10 years to get them back to where they could be harvested again.

It takes around 3 to 4 years from spat to harvesting size(greater than 3 inches). But if you wipe them all out, it takes the few left a lot longer to repopulate the lake.
I am surprized at how many oysters the West Cove still holds after all the dredging from last winter.
But that is a good thing. They are releasing a lot of larvae into the lake for more to grow.
And the shallow reefs are harder to get to in the winter with oyster boats.
That may help also. North winds and low tides make it harder to get closer to the banks.
Another good thing, they don't let them harvest in the West Fork area. Those banks are full of oyster reefs.
I know you find em pretty good in the spring...:*****::*****:

[Ray]

Yep., that's why I know they ain't ddredging back there... LOL

[Ray]

News reports say Oyster prices are falling this year due to the BP/Transocean i
ncident shutting down a lot of SW La.'s oyster harvest and fears of tainted Oysters.
And, Hurricane Ike wiping out a lot of Galveston Bay's Oyster reefs.
Hopefully these issues won't jumpstart a niche market for Big Lake Oysters. Low
prices might deter some Oyster fishermen who don't rely on Oysters for a major
portion of their income.

[ckinchen]

News reports say Oyster prices are falling this year due to the BP/Transocean i
ncident shutting down a lot of SW La.'s oyster harvest and fears of tainted Oysters.
And, Hurricane Ike wiping out a lot of Galveston Bay's Oyster reefs.
Hopefully these issues won't jumpstart a niche market for Big Lake Oysters. Low
prices might deter some Oyster fishermen who don't rely on Oysters for a major
portion of their income.


Ray/others, what is the latest on this, very good thread by the way.

[Ray]

PM sent.
East side is being kilt. Not many oysters left.

[Micah]

Went the south end the other day and the oyster boats were THICK!!! About 40 boats just north of the old jetties.

["W"]

:thefinger::thefinger::thefinger::thefinger::thefi nger::thefinger::thefinger: Oyster Boats

[Ray]

They are not catching as much on the East side.
They are not paying good on the West Cove Oysters.

Some of the Oyster fishermen are not fishing this year cause they got a check from BP already. WHen that runs out, they will be back.

BP helped save Big Lake. Go figger.

[ckinchen]

They are not catching as much on the East side.
They are not paying good on the West Cove Oysters.

Some of the Oyster fishermen are not fishing this year cause they got a check from BP already. WHen that runs out, they will be back.

BP helped save Big Lake. Go figger.


I assume Sabine is closed again this year? Unbelivable if that is true. I live in Texas but Texas boats should have to pay a huge premium to oyster LA waters since Texas apparently is saving their resources.

And yes I think the out of state fishing license should increase and I would have no problem with the extra fee if the money was actually used by the LDWF for something that would improve the resources of the state but we all know that would not happen.

[mikedatiger]

I assume Sabine is closed again this year? Unbelivable if that is true. I live in Texas but Texas boats should have to pay a huge premium to oyster LA waters since Texas apparently is saving their resources.

And yes I think the out of state fishing license should increase and I would have no problem with the extra fee if the money was actually used by the LDWF for something that would improve the resources of the state but we all know that would not happen.

Sabine is closed, but if you research it you'll see that LA oyster men are trying like heck to open it up. Evidently Sabine houses one of the largest reefs in the area.

I just spoke to two long time guides here in TX and they said that the reason Sabine has been closed is because of pollution...