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| The Conservationist's Corner For discussion of everything to do with conservation! |
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#1
08-06-2010, 12:24 AM
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Big Lake Oyster Season
The oyster season in the Calcasieu Lake Public Oyster Area (Department of Health and Hospitals? harvest areas 29 and 30) shall then reopen at one-half hour before sunrise on November 15, 2010 and shall close at one-half hour after sunset on April 30, 2011, except for the 2009 cultch plant. The sack limit for Calcasieu Lake during this time period is set at 10 sacks per vessel per day. However, these conservation actions shall not supersede public health closures. The following areas will remain closed for the entire 2010/2011 oyster season: Sabine Lake Public Oyster Area The 2009 cultch plants as described above in Three-Mile Bay, Black Bay, Lake Chien, Sister Lake, and Calcasieu Lake. 
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#2
08-06-2010, 10:10 AM
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wow...that really sucks for yall
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#3
08-06-2010, 10:42 AM
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Better get ready for the complaints.
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#4
08-06-2010, 09:16 PM
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They don't usually hit the early West Cove season cause shrimp season is still in full
swing. But they will hit it hard when the East side season opens up. Last year was really the first year they could use mechanical dredges. Before Rita they could only use manual dredges. Before that it was tongs. After Rita it shut down the season to hardly nothing.
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#8
08-07-2010, 08:35 PM
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They are supposed to throw back any undersized oysters back into the same place
they caught them. So the ones that were just undersized last year may be legal this year. Mechanical dredges will kill the oysters in Big Lake in the next couple years. It killed it before, but the people who are running this for the state are too young to remember it. The older guys who remember it already retired. Last time they wiped out the oysters, they had to shut down oyster fishing for a few years so they could come back. If they stuck with tonging we would never run out of oysters. There were less oyster fishermen back then. But make it easy to make $300/day before noon and you will have every rinky dink boat licensed and pulling a dredge. Big Lake is the #2 oyster producing area in La. Pretty soon it will start falling off, then the oyster fishermen will cry that it is something or someone elses fault.
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#12
08-10-2010, 12:56 PM
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Quote:
I posted the article on here a while back. Will look for it.
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#13
08-10-2010, 01:02 PM
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After several years of planning meetings, changes to regulations and upport of the local oyster industry, an initiative to increase harvest and market value of the Calcasieu Lake oyster fishery is reaping benefits. Oyster harvesting from the area had fallen from more than 100,000 sacks in the early ‘80s to less than 20,000 sacks in the early years of this decade. Normally, one would suspect a problem with the stock or other resource ssues. However in this case, the problem was a marketing and availability issue. Over the years, frequent health closures made it difficult for dealers to hold on to markets. Intermittent supply caused wholesale customers to seek more reliable sources. All the while, oyster stock assessments showed the resource to be quite robust. In an effort to boost the local economy and stabilize the Calcasieu oyster industry, a local committee was formed to try and work through some of the problems.
The Calcasieu Oyster Task Force was formed of local fishermen, buyers and businessmen. Also working with the task force was the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Louisiana Sea Grant, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) and Cameron Parish Police Jury. Several changes have come about over the years through the efforts of all parties involved. In December 2005, after extensive sampling by LDHH, an additional area was opened on the Lower Calcasieu portion of the harvest area. In 2006, legislation was passed allowing dredging in Calcasieu for the first time in many years. That same year the sack limit increased to 15 per day. The benefit of dredging oyster reefs goes far beyond saving the backs of fishermen. Dredges in Calcasieu are limited to 36 inches wide. These lightweight dredges only remove the top layer of oysters. Dredging breaks up clusters and reduces the amount of hooked mussels which set on oysters and reduce quality and hamper growth. Dredging also increases reef area, by slowly spreading shell and oysters out during the dredging process. This allows more area for spat set during subsequent spawns. Also, when fishermen stop and cull through the undersized oysters (3-inch minimum) and shell, these are returned to the lake to become part of the reef bottom. Dredging oysters also improves quality over time by reducing hooked mussels. An oyster’s natural defense to being rolled around by dredges or rough water is to deepen its shell. This is known in the industry as cupping. Cupped shells produce thick, meaty oysters of high quality. During the 2009-2010 seasons more than 100 fishermen worked Calcasieu Lake’s reefs. Some of the increased harvest was due to many people being out of work during the economic downturn. But, some of the increase was due to the high demand for quality oysters which fetched record prices for Calcasieu Lake oysters of $20 to $32 per sack. Hopefully, with continued monitoring and good management, this resource will continue to grow and support local fishermen and improve the reef areas of Calcasieu Lake, which are also known by recreational fishermen as excellent fishing spots.
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