LDWF meeting to talk about Big Lake Oysters

[MarshRat89]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Aftering the LDWF recommendations, background, and stock assessments, as well as receiving input from various stakeholders, the Commission passed the LDWF recommendation that the harvest regs next year stay about the same as they were this year. That is, 10 sacks, West Cove only, opening 27 October, etc. The Commission pointed out that they are not empowered by the legislature to change the dredging, but only to set opening and closing dates and limits.



Raymond Little (Lake Charles CCA) was there and did a great job articulating the concerns of recreational anglers regarding the importance of oyster reefs to the sport fishery.



A representative of CCA Louisiana was also there and also spoke about the concerns of recreational anglers, the importance of habitat conservation, etc.



I spoke for a bit on the importance of habitat and our use of fish as bioindicators of ecosystem condition. As "canaries in the coal mine" the fish are telling is that there is a real problem in the estuary with the benthic food web. I often fail to articulate things as well when speaking as I do in writing, but I think I did manage to succeed in emphasizing the importance of oyster reef food web and habitat contributions, and offered the tangible suggestion of doubling black drum limits as an additional step the Commission could take to help oyster stocks recover from the steep decline in 2010.



The feeling I got was that the Commission follows the LDWF recommendations 95+% of the time, especially with respect to oyster harvesting and basic fishery limit issues. Effective policy change likely requires working with the relevant LDWF folks to get them to recommend the desired policy change. This seems to be how CCA has succeeded in issues like reduced speck limits and the imposition of tripletail limits. Merely showing up and speaking is of limited effectiveness if the guy presenting the LDWF policy recommendation is saying something else.



I was favorably impressed with most of the speakers, including the "oyster lobby" and oystermen. They seemed to emphasize the importance of scientific management and several advocated depoliticizing the process in favor of a more scientific approach.



Patrick Banks (LDWF Oyster Biologist) made a very favorable impression. I believe LDWF is doing a great job with the oyster science within the limitations of their available resources.



I think the best interests of all stakeholders will be best served by increasing the focus on the ecosystem services provided by healthy oyster reefs and lobbying toward a more more extensive reef system in the lake. Patrick Banks pointed out that high salinity in the SE part of the lake stresses oysters and makes them much more susceptible to the oyster drill snail, a parasite that kills them. This is a key problem slowing the recovery and reestablishment of reefs in the SE areas of the lake. Apparently, salinity control would be of great benefit to the oysters in addition to allowing the weirs to be open more often.



Talking to some oyster fishermen afterwards, I can see no scientific reason why Sabine cannot be opened for oyster harvest. This could take a lot of the harvest pressure off of Calcaisieu and may be a reasonable compromise which allows local fisherman a chance to maintain their income while allowing valuable habitat to come back in Calcasieu. Sabine is in no danger of overharvesting, and could easily provide 2-10x the oyster harvest as Calcasieu. According to this oyster fisherman, CCA has been working behind the scenes to ensure that oystering in Sabine stays off the table.

You did a great job man!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk mmm