Affordable and available live bait is crucial to the recreational fishing industry, but at the moment it is harder to come by and even more expensive to purchase. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
By Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
A variety of factors over the past years have melded together placing live bait shop owners under duress; frequent hurricanes, oil spills, dead zones and fish kills in the Gulf, as well as an ever changing landscape of waterways due to fresh-water diversions of the Mississippi River. Available, affordable live bait is crucial to the recreational fishing industry, but at the moment it is harder to come by and even more expensive to purchase.
“Live bait is the bait for the people!,” said Paul Begue, a Mandeville native with a background in aquaculture and live aquatic animal holding. He and his business partner Dom Graves, a New Orleans native with a similar background who specializes in live aquatic system maintenance, formed the Gulf Coast Live Bait Association to create a unified voice for a disorganized industry. The duo has been surveying the live bait industry since Hurricane Ida dealt a near fatal blow to the state’s seafood complex and acting as a liaison for the industry to the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition.
After Hurricane Ida, Dom Graves drove the Bayou state surveying more than 40 sites and finding approximately 80% were severely damaged or completely wiped out. Lake Catherine Island Marina and Bait under water after Ida. Photo: Lake Catherine Island Marina and Bait
Begue and Graves have built a support network of more than 25 members in the bait industry; including system operators, marina owners, and bait haulers. After Hurricane Ida, Graves drove the Bayou state surveying more than 40 sites and finding approximately 80% were severely damaged or completely wiped out.
“The recreational fishing industry is a $2 billion industry in the State of Louisiana, covering everything possible; from boat, to trailers, to gasoline sales and of course live bait,” explained Begue. “Live Bait acts as an economic force multiplier; bringing people to marinas who then also launch, purchase fuel, ice, food, etc.“
In the past the importance of live bait has been overlooked for a number of reasons. Approximately 40 operators across the state provide live bait to the recreational fishing community which includes guides, charter-boats, head-boats and the regular Joe who fishes on his own.
Home Grown Industry
Roy Loeffler. of Lake Catherine Island Marina and Bait with bait shrimp from holding tanks. Photo: Caitlyn Ridenour
“‘Cajunuity’ inspired the live bait industry,” Begue. said. “These were some very creative individuals that said let’s put in a few tanks, pump in some bayou water, flush it through tanks and we can hold live bait.”
What those bait operators put in the tanks were thousands of shrimp, cocahoe minnow and croake; all used for salt water, or brackish water, recreational fishing.
“Shrimp is 90% of what is sold,” the baitfish expert went on to explain. “At a cost of 35-cents each, live bait puts fishermen at a distinct advantage to actually catch fish. Bad fishermen can actually become pretty good fishermen in South Louisiana by using live bait.”
Live bait has become a viable product shops can hold up to 48-hours without loss or mortality. Begue says, “A dead shrimp is not worth anything, they have a very short shelf life. Bait should stay in holding tanks as little time as possible. Once one starts to die, others around it tend also to expire.”
The two aquatic life support experts work with bait shops to keep product alive for longer periods of time. Optimally a tank of bait should be turned every 24-hours allowing for a daily delivery of fresh bait.
Dom Graves talking with Robbie Johnson at the Pointe Marina in Slidell surrounded by bait fish holding tanks. Photo: Caitlyn Ridenour
Dom Graves says weekends are bait shop biggest days. “Starting on Thursday the shops start to get really busy and it is important to have enough bait in the tanks for arriving fishermen.”
Bait shops tend to be cash businesses buying 60-100 count shrimp for their tanks. These small shrimp are enticing to the 14-15 inch speckle trout and 18-24 inch redfish, fish sizes too small for the commercial market. Availability is not only important to local fishermen, but also the record number of out-of-state recreational fishermen. Like a majority of Gulf States, Louisiana allows only shrimp native to the Gulf of Mexico to be used as bait.
Bait shops either have their own dedicated bait boats to supply their tanks or rely upon on independent suppliers. In addition bait is also shipped via trucks to many other locations along the coast.
“Live bait was not a large part of our business yet, but it was fixin’ to be,” said Shaw Quevous, whose family operates Jean Lafitte Marina businesses at southernmost point of the town. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
For Shaw Quevous, who owns and operates Jean Laffite Marina with his mother Cissy, Hurricane Ida could not have happened at a worse time for their newly operational live bait system. The new live bait operation had been running less than a month when Ida made landfall, completely destroying the building and equipment along with a dedicated bait boat.
“Live bait was not a large part of our business yet, but it was fixin’ to be,” said Quevous, whose family operates five marina related businesses at southernmost point of the town. “We had people waiting for years for us to finish our live bait house, and the minute we finished it Ida hit a month later. It really took the wind out of our sails.”
The Quevous family has struggling since Ida to reopen all parts of their operations with financial considerations and supply chain problems slowing their recovery. “To be honest the bait house has been a low priority, but we are starting to address the issues. I am hoping to have it back up and running within six months,” he said.
“After the four hurricanes in two years, we have lost a number of live bait shops because some have chosen not to rebuild, while others do not have the funds. I want a thriving recreational fishery for kids and my kids’ kids,” said Begue.“When a Marina doesn’t have live bait, customers tend to keep driving down the road to the next shop that does and then proceed to purchase fuel, ice, food, and launch.”
Because the location of these live bait sellers are close to the coast, they are regularly hurricane battered, sometimes multiple times within a single year. Lake Catherine Island Marina and Bait nine months after Hurricane Ida. Photo: Caitlyn Ridenour
Because the location of these live bait sellers are close to the coast, they are regularly hurricane battered, sometimes multiple times within a single year. Owners have traditionally had the mindset whatever system is in place is a short term; something to be replaced after the next storm passes.
“What Dom and I are trying to do, is educate bait shop owners that there are a better infrastructure solutions available and hardening and portability of equipment is key,” Begue said. “A high quality bait filtration and pump system can cost $5000 or more but many shops fear an investment of that size would be wasted when the next storm comes and washes it away.”
Graves explained over the years they have helped customers design pallet systems for the filtration system that can be easily pulled out and put on a trailer for transportation to safe harbor. He says, “The key is to have the ability to evacuate the equipment to protect the investment.”
Graves explained over the years they have helped customers design pallet systems for the filtration system that can be easily pulled out and put on a trailer for transportation to safe harbor. He examines a holding tank at The Bait Shop in Slidell. Photo: Caitlyn Ridenour
The other key component in these bait-holding systems is tanks. Begue says, “Again owners have been resigned to the fact that they will lose tanks eventually, so they purchase a bare bone system they know will eventually end up at the bottom of some bayou. Our mission is to say don’t do that. Concrete tanks placed on higher ground so nature will never be able to take them away is a better solution.”
The aquatic animal holding experts explained the key lies in making part of the system portable and harden existing infrastructure.
“For bait shop owners the duress factor from a hurricane is getting the equipment back up and running so they can start selling bait again,” said Begue. “Our proven solution reduces that duress while protecting their investments.”
Mitch Jurisich, a member of the. Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition, reaches for a net of bait shrimp at the Delta Marina in Empire. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
Begue and Graves say bait shop owners have never worked together as an association. They tend to be very secretive and competitive when it comes to the system they designed to keep their bait alive.
“Dom and I work with most everyone in the business and to be truthful they are all doing the same shit. We think it is time to bring the industry together so that they can keep from being overlooked whenever recovery efforts are being made.
In the Bayou State live bait shops have been around for a long, long time. In Shell Beach, Campo’s Marina has been family run since starting in 1901. On its website it prominently advertises the availability of live bait and has two shrimp boats dedicated to catching stock for their tanks.
In the Bayou State live bait shops have been around for a long, long time. Live bait draws people in, it is the backbone of recreational fishing. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
During the past two years alone the marina was hit had by hurricanes Zeta and Ida. “It took six weeks after Hurricane Ida to start getting fishermen to return,” said Robby Campo. “Bait shops have always been on back burner when it comes to relief efforts. It seems no one ever comes and says ‘let us help you guys.’”
Campo sees a definite need for the Gulf Coast Live Bait Association. He hopes that the organization will be influential in providing needed funding for bait shop owners, as well as some needed industry respect.
“The Campo family has been friends of our family since I was in diapers,” said Paul Begue. “It means a lot to me that they listen to Dom and me about new tools and techniques.” Beague at Island Marina.
“Live bait draws people in, it is the backbone of the industry,” he told Gulf Seafood News. “If I don’t have bait fishermen aren’t going to stop, they are going to go where they can find it. They ain’t going to be loyal to you if you can’t provide them the live bait.”
“The Campo family has been friends of our family since I was in diapers,” said Begue, who helped Robby choose the right battery backup system to run aeration when power fails. “It means a lot to me that they listen to Dom and me about new tools and techniques. It’s big business for them to have live bait year-round.”
Graves says it is important for those selling live bait to join their organization so they can, “be up to date on industry changes and communicate needs back upwards to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana Sea Grant as one loud voice.”
“We’ve seen the Live Bait industry overlooked in the past and completely boxed out of qualifying for equipment grants and recovery dollars in past disaster recoveries,” he explained. “This time around, we’ve made sure to not only be a part of the conversation, but to help create a plan with actual impact. The “White Paper” created by the Recovery Coalition, and our supplemental “Reasons to Invest in Live Bait Infrastructure,” calls for investing in lost or damaged equipment replacement, hardening existing infrastructure and portability of these live bait life support systems.”
Begue sums it up by saying, “It is important for our industry to understand the importance of coming together.”
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