Emergency Oyster Program Update
It is day two of the DMR’s oyster restoration program. Thousands of oysters are moved out of harm’s way and our local fishermen earn some money for their hard work.
Is this emergency program spearheaded by the Department of Marine Resources helping our locals? News 25’s Laurene Callander was at this morning’s meeting to test the waters.
In all, 61 local fishermen collected 3,000 sacks of oysters from the Bay St. Louis Bayou on Monday, day one of the DMR’s emergency oyster program.
While the Coast’s hard hit fishermen are thankful for the work, they worry over the program’s day-by-day status. They are hoping that more work is on the horizon after the red tide and recent opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway washed out this year’s oyster season. Director of Marine Fisheries Joe Jewell said, “They want a long term program that benefits them and their livelihoods and this is just a short term fix to that effort.”
The program got off to a somewhat rough start Monday when two boats overturned because of mechanical problems but the DMR didn’t expect smooth sailing on day one. DMR Public Information Officer Melissa Scallan said, “We knew that there would be some things that we wouldn’t be able to deal with until they happened. We just made some adjustments and hopefully, we know it took longer than we would have liked to get the oysters onto the barge but we made some adjustments and hopefully that will help the fishermen and our staff, who were out there while that process was going on as well.”
As the oysters on the barge were deposited to East Beach reefs, one woman at Tuesday’s meeting expressed her frustration over what she calls a lack of communication between the DMR and coast fisherman. Thao Vu with the Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese American Fishermen and Families said, “We just want a process that’s more inclusive, more open and considering the fishermen’s recommendations and actually taking their feedback more often and implementing their recommendations.”
Meanwhile, Coast fishermen continue to work in hopes of building up the Back Bay reefs and praying for a better run and harvest the next time around.
Is this emergency program spearheaded by the Department of Marine Resources helping our locals? News 25’s Laurene Callander was at this morning’s meeting to test the waters.
In all, 61 local fishermen collected 3,000 sacks of oysters from the Bay St. Louis Bayou on Monday, day one of the DMR’s emergency oyster program.
While the Coast’s hard hit fishermen are thankful for the work, they worry over the program’s day-by-day status. They are hoping that more work is on the horizon after the red tide and recent opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway washed out this year’s oyster season. Director of Marine Fisheries Joe Jewell said, “They want a long term program that benefits them and their livelihoods and this is just a short term fix to that effort.”
The program got off to a somewhat rough start Monday when two boats overturned because of mechanical problems but the DMR didn’t expect smooth sailing on day one. DMR Public Information Officer Melissa Scallan said, “We knew that there would be some things that we wouldn’t be able to deal with until they happened. We just made some adjustments and hopefully, we know it took longer than we would have liked to get the oysters onto the barge but we made some adjustments and hopefully that will help the fishermen and our staff, who were out there while that process was going on as well.”
As the oysters on the barge were deposited to East Beach reefs, one woman at Tuesday’s meeting expressed her frustration over what she calls a lack of communication between the DMR and coast fisherman. Thao Vu with the Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese American Fishermen and Families said, “We just want a process that’s more inclusive, more open and considering the fishermen’s recommendations and actually taking their feedback more often and implementing their recommendations.”
Meanwhile, Coast fishermen continue to work in hopes of building up the Back Bay reefs and praying for a better run and harvest the next time around.
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