Seafood Communities
Hurricanes, droughts, flooding and oil spills, the Louisiana Oyster Task Force had thought they had seen it all. The norvell coronavirus that is sweeping through the state, the nation and the world is just one more obstacle to overcome and according to Task Force chairman Mitch Jurisich there is little doubt they will. Jurisich discusses the importance of Gulf oysters to the environment, culture and heritage of Louisiana.
Louisiana Gulf fishermen have overcome natural and manmade setback after setback after setback. The recent Louisiana Fisheries Forward Summit at the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner, presented by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter, was subject to to one such unforeseen setback, Covid-19, also known as the coronavirus.
For Louisiana oysterman Tony Tesvich the last few years have been all about water, water, and more water. Too much, too little, poor quality, high salinity, low salinity, nitrogen, phosphates and hypoxia; over the past two years his oysters have been flooded with a host of water issues and that is why he will be attending the 2020 Fisheries Forward Summit.
Striving to survive years of low prices and a safety scare following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Louisiana fishing industry suffered an estimated $258 million loss this past year due to the historic flooding according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Commercial fishermen, dock owners and processors and others will have the opportunity to learn about important issues facing this industry at the upcoming Louisiana Fisheries Forward Summit.
A young clam farmer who “dabbles in oysters” is finding Florida aquaculture a challenging field with a host of potential minefields, especially Red Tide. For the past six years Carter Davis has farmed 16-acres in the waters off of Pine Island in Tampa Bay. Just when he thought he was getting the hang of it, Red Tide almost put his operation out of business.
Growing up in Sarasota near the historic fishing village of Cortez, Brian Lacey wasn’t born into a fishing family; it is just some he always wanted to do. He is one of the few, the proud and the brave. No, not a Marine; the next generation of Gulf fishermen.
A storm that brewed in Galveston Bay for the past four-years over the ownership of Texas oyster production rights has finally subsided. A Texas Supreme Court ruling and new legislation has effectively shuddered the Chamber-Liberty Counties Navigation District (CLCND) claim to lease submerged bottomland to Sustainable Texas Oyster Resource Management (STORM) for the purpose of growing oysters.
In the midst of a Florida field beseeched with palmettos and pines, Two Docks Shellfish is not your typical Gulf aquaculture business. A lawyer, a PhD, a Master and a biologist comprise the brain trust running the successful Bradenton clamming and oyster aquaculture operation.
Cleansing the waters of the Gulf of Mexico’s Tampa Bay using northern quahog clams to combat Florida Red Tide might seem a little “out there”, but “out there” has been the trademark of Ed Chiles, founder of The Chiles Group.
A grant entitled Community Economic Development in Rural Coastal Acadiana Parishes is a collaborative effort between the University of Louisiana Lafayette and Meridian Institute. The focus is on seafood in coastal Acadiana, a very rural region of the state.
Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United’s Ryan Bradley is leading the charge to promote sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.
After more than five decades of serving at the helm of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, Executive Director Bob Jones has announced his retirement at the end of 2018.
Over the course of centuries the waters off Louisiana’s coast have been familiar naval combat grounds. Recently those same waters again teamed with a naval armada ready for combat, this time joined by some of the best known chefs in the state to show support for Gulf fishermen.
In the fashion world “orange is the new black,” but for the Gulf seafood industry “orange” is helping those affected by hurricanes the previous year, and others, put their businesses back into the “black.” The Gulf Seafood Foundation’s orange “Helping Hands” gloves are starting to appear everywhere across the Gulf of Mexico.
“Helping Hands” Becomes Part of Apostleship of the Sea Mission for Port Arthur Catholic Priest Father Sinclair Oubre who says six months after Hurricane Harvey the need for fishermen is still there.
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