Tag Archives: Mississippi River
Gov. Jeff Landry denounced a $3 billion coastal restoration plan. Shrimpers are thrilled.
It’s becoming harder to get by as a shrimp boat captain. The cost of fuel is up, but the price of shrimp is going down. And in grocery stores, cheap imported shrimp is outcompeting their wild-caught product, shrimpers say. On top of that, the shrimpers see a massive coastal restoration project as a threat to their livelihood. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, 
the cornerstone of the state’s plan to protect Louisiana’s rapidly eroding coastline, proposes to slice open a section of the levee that keeps North America’s largest river from its natural wanderings and allow freshwater and sediment to enter the Barataria Basin, where the shrimpers work. “The scientists, they’re working toward one main goal,” said Andry, and “it is not to preserve culture here.” But lately the fishermen have had reason for optimism after Gov. Jeff Landry signaled his opposition to the project, which has been in limbo for the last several months. Echoing many shrimpers, he said the project would “break our culture.” Many of those whose livelihoods depend on the basin share Landry’s assessment. 23 photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:46
Gov. Landry has pulled the plug on Louisiana’s biggest coastal project, Tulane expert says
A Tulane University environmental law expert said he believes Governor Jeff Landry has effectively killed Louisiana’s largest coastal project as envisioned. “What the governor did, basically, was pull the plug on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion,” said Mark Davis, a senior research fellow and founding director of the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy. Landry told a Senate committee in Baton Rouge last Thursday that the $3.1 billion diversion would destroy Louisiana’s culture. In doing so, Landry sided with many commercial fishermen and other critics, who argue that 75,000 cubic feet per second of Mississippi River water would devastate the Barataria Basin, marine life and those who make their livings fishing these waters. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:40
More than $30 million & 300 jobs lost during 2019 spillway opening, MSU study finds
The 2019 opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway cost the Mississippi Coast hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars, a scenario likely to repeat itself and endanger a seafood industry that has been vital to the economy and culture, a study from Mississippi State University concludes. The seafood industry also has declined because of competition from imports, the study noted. Interviews showed many fishermen, including those who specialize in shrimp and oysters, are selling their boats and leaving an industry that supported their families for generations. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:14
Louisiana fishermen take their fight against coastal project to court
The $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion aims to mimic the river’s power to build land by channeling Mississippi River water into the bay. However, a lawsuit by fishing companies, fishermen and the Earth Island Institute argues the state’s largest coastal project would “introduce contaminants and hazardous materials” into Barataria Bay and “adversely affect human health” and other species. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, also claims the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought into “largely unproven benefits” of pouring massive amounts of river water into the basin. The suit also names the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It argues the Corps violated federal laws in awarding a permit for the diversion, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act. more, >>click to read<< 17:11
Federal Fisheries disaster declared for Louisiana over 2020 hurricanes – Mississippi also sees disaster declaration
The federal government has announced its approval of a disaster declaration over damage to Louisiana fisheries due to three 2020 hurricanes, opening the door to federal aid for commercial fishers. Separately, Mississippi fisheries were issued another disaster declaration over the unprecedented 2019 Bonnet Carre Spillway openings in Louisiana. The governor noted the affected parishes were home to nearly 2,500 commercial fishers and vessels combined along with more than 100 wholesale dealers and a similar number of charter captains. The storm led to damaged docks and boating facilities, lost gear and vessels, lost housing and loss of stored seafood, Edwards said. >click to read< 13:14
The Controversial Plan to Unleash the Mississippi River
“There’s not a son of a bitch in this parish, or within this industry, that doesn’t want coastal restoration,” Acy Cooper, the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association tells me when I find him repairing his boat in Venice, the southernmost harbor on the Mississippi River. Cooper is a third-generation shrimper; he knows that if the marshland is not saved, that chain will come to an end. The necessary gradient of water will disappear, replaced by salty ocean. So Cooper supports some projects—using dredged mud to build marsh, for instance—but worries that the diversion will make the water near Venice too fresh, pushing shrimp out into the Gulf. The small boats used by many shrimpers can’t travel that far. He compares the diversion to a gun held to his head: “Either let me die slowly and I can adapt, or you just pull the trigger and kill me now. That’s the way I feel about it,” he says. “If you pull the trigger now, I’m dead.” The Army Corps’ draft environmental impact statement, released in spring 2021, confirmed many of Cooper’s worst fears,,, Big article, big read. >click to read< 19:22
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser – $2 billion river diversion is opposed by many. I am opposed.
Turning the tide on land loss in coastal Louisiana is a matter of self-preservation. However, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s (CPRA) plan to address coastal land loss is a staggering $2 billion river diversion,,, I oppose this large-scale river diversion, and I’m not alone. The parish councils of Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany have joined in because those communities will lose already limited flood protections while the negative impact to their fisheries environment upends the livelihood of fishermen who rely on fresh water, salt water and land. >click to read< 12:28
An oysterman’s new worry: Will state’s coastal plan wash out his business?
Terry Shelley has spent his entire working life as a commercial fisherman. Before he was a full-time oyster farmer and harvester, he spent the first part of his career harvesting shrimp and reef fish. He’s seen a lot, but not a pileup of challenges like now. Back in September, Hurricane Zeta rumbled over small-town Port Sulphur, Louisiana, where the family’s oyster farm and processing center are based. The Shelleys lost half their cages, and they only managed to retrieve about half of that. Already by then, the Coronavirus pandemic had temporarily halted the supply lines Shelley Farms uses to sell its oysters. Now, after losing most of his oyster crop last year, Mr. Shelley has another worry on his mind. Louisiana coastal planners are pushing a $2 billion project proposal designed to fight back against the trend of persistent coastal erosion. >click to read< 15:24
The host parish for Mid-Barataria diversion just voted 8-0 thumbs down against it – would destroy economy, culture
The Plaquemines Parish Council has decided to oppose Louisiana’s $2 billion plan to channel land-building sediment and nutrient-laden water from the Mississippi River,,, Members said the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project would destroy their parish’s seafood-based economy and culture. The 8-0 thumbs down from the governing authority in the project’s home parish marks an expected rebuke for Gov. John Bel Edwards, his coastal planners and their nonprofit advocates, who see Mid-Barataria as the flagship project in the state’s 50-year, $50 billion effort to stave off the disappearance of much of the bottom third of Louisiana into the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 11:13
Barataria Bay project seen to create 27 square miles of land, displace brown shrimp and oysters
“The fishing industry doesn’t see the payoff here. It’s going to kill us more than it’s going to help anything,” said Cooper, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. He said he feels as though the sparsely populated fishing communities of lower Plaquemines Parish, where the diversion is to be built, have been written off.,, Louisiana’s proposal for Mid-Barataria calls for spending part of a $303 million chunk of mitigation money to help fishers adapt to the disruption in their lives and their bank accounts. But industry representatives doubt that the government’s analyses sufficiently assess the economic cost of such a drastic change to an industry that not only supplies seafood,,, >click to read< 10:12
Inland Fish Fight: Invasive Asian carp threaten Kansas and Missouri waterways
Common carp, which resemble overgrown goldfish, were imported from Europe, where they were popular sportfish and table fare over 150 years ago. But bighead and silver carp were first brought from Asia about 50 years ago, Chapman said. Being plankton eaters, the carp were imported with the hope they could clean waters of unwanted materials, including sewage lagoons. It didn’t work out that way. “There’s never been a fish brought in for large-scale aquaculture that hasn’t escaped into the wild,” Chapman said. “Somebody wasn’t paying attention.” >click to read< 10:47
Louisiana fisheries, coastal agencies working on initial oyster recovery strategy
Oysters are such a mainstay of Louisiana cuisine,, But over the past two decades, the state’s legendary bivalves have been getting battered. In hopes of reversing those trends, the agencies that oversee Louisiana’s fisheries and its coastal restoration efforts are developing a long-term strategy to revive the state’s once-legendary and recently beleaguered oyster fishery. The initial price tag is estimated at $132 million,, The plan was presented to the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries’ Louisiana Oyster Task Force for an initial review on July 7, and was endorsed by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority eight days later. >click to read< 13:04
Asian Carp: Chinese investment and wisdom rescue Kentucky’s fisheries
As New Year 2020 nears, 62-year-old Angie Yu is marketing her fish products harder than usual. The Chinese American businesswoman views the holiday season as a prime opportunity for the delicacies to gain wider popularity.The entrepreneur prides herself on her choice of location. As the name Two Rivers Fisheries indicates, her plant sits on the confluence of two rivers－the Mississippi and its major tributary, the Ohio., After receiving carp from local fishermen, the plant processes, flash-freezes and boxes up the fish before shipping them out to destinations across the globe. >click to read< 10:15
Gulf Coast leaders form coalition to protect Mississippi Sound after devastating spillway openings
The marine life in the Mississippi Sound endured a tumultuous spring and summer this year due to freshwater from the Mississippi River flowing in at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater entered the Sound through the Bonnet Carré Spillway, a structure in Louisiana that releases water from the Mississippi River to prevent flooding in New Orleans. Never before had the spillway been opened in consecutive years, nor twice in one year; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the gates, broke both those records this year after a historic wet season across the river’s basin. >click to read< 11:38
Midwestern Farm Runoff Creates Headache For Louisiana Shrimpers
“We’re not catching no large shrimp,” said Olander, who largely blames worsening environmental conditions. “There’s no explaining this here other than it’s something’s wrong with our water.” Olander grabs his phone to elaborate. He pulls up a picture of the Gulf water his cousin Douglas, also a fisherman, took from the deck of his boat earlier this summer. “That’s that green slime,” he said, pointing. “ Audio, >click to read< 11:43
Mississippi to sue Army Corps of Engineers over extended opening of spillway
Mississippi’s attorney general said Thursday that he will sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for environmental and economic damage the state experienced after the Corps opened a spillway for two extended periods this year to protect New Orleans from flooding.,, Hood said he does not want New Orleans to flood but the Corps should better assess potential damage to Mississippi when deciding whether to open the Bonnet Carre spillway. He said if the federal government decides to open the spillway often, “they’ll have to pay for it because it’s just about put our seafood industry out of business.” >click to read< 17:11
‘It’s grim.’ After spring floods, Louisiana oyster harvest slows to a trickle
Fall is when Louisiana normally begins harvesting a torrent of oysters. This year, the torrent is barely a trickle. Restaurants have resorted to rationing. They’re reaching far beyond their normal local supply chains to get whatever boxes and sacks of oysters they can find, revising menus and tapping stockpiles of frozen product to keep fried oysters on their po-boys and seafood platters. Many in the business are calling the shortage the worst they’ve ever seen, worse than the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 or the BP oil spill disaster in 2010, both of which devastated the local industry. Photo’s >click to read< 08:29
Shrinking the Gulf Coast dead zone part 1: Downriver, part 2: Upriver
The Ace of Trade shrimp trawler motored toward Dean Blanchard’s dock early this summer and winched its nets into storage. Blanchard’s workers, strengthened by a lifetime at sea worked shirtless in the humid summer air. It was the beginning of hurricane season, and so far 2019 had been the wettest year in U.S. history. Blanchard has been in business for 37 years, and is one of the largest shrimp suppliers in America, distributing off the barrier island of Grand Isle in the Mississippi River Delta. >Click to read part one< >click to read part two< 11:00
The Mississippi River Devastated Fisheries This Year. Some See It As A Preview Of The Future
On a bayou in the St. Bernard Parish town of Yscloskey, George Barisich starts up his shrimp boat. “Hear that?” he says, as the diesel engine below our feet roars to a start. “That’s the sound we want to hear.” Barisich says that engine hasn’t gotten much use lately. There is no point in heading into the marsh when there aren’t any shrimp to catch. “I’m 82 percent off on my brown shrimp,” he says of this season. “Eighty two. And there’s a lot of people just as bad.” This year’s historic flooding on the Mississippi River has decimated the coast’s fisheries. >click to read< 17:48:45
More articles on sediment diversion, >click here<
Water conditions causing ‘catastrophic’ season for in-shore and near-shore shrimpers
The Bonnet Carre Spillway has been open for 100 days as of Friday and the influx of freshwater still pouring into the Mississippi Sound is taking a major toll on coast fishermen. The shrimp season opened two weeks ago but, by most accounts, the freshwater in the Mississippi Sound is making it a season to forget for those who make their living on the water. Shrimpers are having to adjust where they drop their nets, said David Veal director of American Shrimp Processors Association. Video, >click to read< 14:56
Expanding Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico is Causing High Anxiety Among Shrimpers
For Tran, it is an adventure. For his family, it is a trade they had known in Vietnam before they made their way to Port Arthur, Texas after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Tran and his family of shrimpers have faced many challenges created by mother nature. The latest weather-related problem in the Gulf is a giant dead zone predicted to grow to a near record in coming weeks. “It’s not good,” said Tran.,,, The dead zone is an area of ocean containing little to no oxygen. It is a phenomenon that typically peaks in the summer and dissipates in the winter. However, this summer’s dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is predicted to be unusually large,,, Video, >click to read< 14:10
Floods in Midwest take toll on seafood in Gulf Coast area
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards have asked the federal government for a fisheries disaster declaration,,, Louisiana’s oyster harvest is 80% below average,,, “We’ve been dealing with the river since October,” said Acy J. Cooper Jr., president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association “That’s a long time it’s been high.” The die-offs are as bad in Mississippi.,, Shrimp are now in places only larger boats can reach, said Cooper. “Some of the big ones are catching a few,” he said. “The smaller boats are just catching hell.” >Video, click to read< 18:05
‘A major punch in the gut’: Midwest rains projected to create Gulf dead zone
As rain deluged the Midwest this spring, commercial fisherman Ryan Bradley knew it was only a matter of time before the disaster reached him. All that water falling on all that fertilizer-enriched farmland would soon wend its way through streams and rivers into Bradley’s fishing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Mississippi coast. The nutrient excess would cause tiny algae to burst into bloom, then die, sink, and decompose on the ocean floor. That process would suck all the oxygen from the water, turning it toxic. Fish would suffocate, or flee, leaving Bradley and his fellow fishermen with nothing to harvest. >click to read<21:12
Mississippi Gulf Coast fishermen struggling as flooding disaster wipes out marine life
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is now bearing the effects of the record rain and snowmelt that has caused major flooding throughout the Midwest this year. The influx of water that has drained into the Mississippi River and is now being diverted into the gulf coast has wreaked havoc on marine life and Mississippi’s commercial fishing industry. >Video, click to read<17:37
Fourth-generation fisherman keeps tradition alive in Wisconsin
Just as his ancestors did, Mike Valley draws his living from the Mississippi River. But the 1,000-pound catch that fills his handmade nets and homemade jon boat is not destined for wholesalers. Twice a week, Valley and a couple of his friends feverishly clean their overnight haul of carp, buffalo, catfish, perch and sturgeon, which soon will be snatched up by the enthusiastic customers of his retail store, Valley Fish and Cheese.,, >click to read<11:59
Louisiana Fisherman Talks Water Quality and Nutrient Reduction with Iowa Farmers
Nutrient runoff from Iowa agriculture is one of the leading causes of the growing “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, an oxygen-deprived section of the Gulf, which last year was recorded to be the size of the state of New Jersey. “About 29 percent of the load coming into the Gulf originates in Iowa,” says Larry Weber, an executive associate dean professor in the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering. “If we take the Iowa portion out of the Gulf, then the nitrate load to the Gulf of Mexico would be going down. The real challenge in fixing the Gulf hypoxia starts in Iowa.” In this special edition of River to River, host Clay Masters talks with panelists about what Iowa farmers are doing, or not doing, when it comes to reducing nutrient runoff into the Mississippi River. He also speaks with Thomas Olander, Chairman of the Louisiana Shrimp Association and a fourth generation shrimper. Audio report >click to listen<10:23
Chinese business brings prosperity to fishermen on Mississippi
After less than 10-minute cruising on the Mississippi River in west Kentucky, Mark Buttler stopped his boat near a shoal and began to cast nets. He harvested 400 pounds of fish from two fishnets on this bright autumn morning. For the 62-year-old fisherman, who joined his father for fishing soon after high school graduation in the westernmost part of the U.S. state of Kentucky, the daily routine also includes selling his catch to a local business run by a Chinese entrepreneur. Before 2013, he sold his fish either to a market up north or to a seafood restaurant in Ledbetter, Kentucky. Then Angie Yu came to the City of Wickliffe in west Kentucky and opened the Two Rivers Fisheries to process fish from the Mississippi. Yu’s efforts also coincide with the U.S. government’s eagerness to remove some of the Asian carp from the river. click here to read the story 17:53
Gulf of Mexico Now Largest Dead Zone in the World, and Factory Farming Is to Blame
Nitrogen fertilizers and sewage sludge runoff from factory farms are responsible for creating an enormous dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. As fertilizer runs off farms in agricultural states like Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and others, it enters the Mississippi River, leading to an overabundance of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, in the water.,, This, in turn, leads to the development of algal blooms, which alter the food chain and deplete oxygen, resulting in dead zones. Needless to say, the fishing industry is taking a big hit, each year getting worse than the last. The featured news report includes underwater footage that shows you just how bad the water quality has gotten. Video, click here to read the story 14:13
More Mississippi River sediment will mean more problems for Louisiana shrimpers
Louisiana’s quintessential shrimper – the independent, weather-beaten man with a small boat that’s seen better days – may be the hardest hit by two sediment diversions planned on the Mississippi River. A new report indicates many shrimpers will need help adapting, possibly in the form of grants, subsidies and job re-training, once the diversions begin funneling fresh water and sediment into Barataria Bay and Breton Sound. The sediment is likely to alter the distribution, abundance and types of shrimp in areas where shrimpers have fished for decades. Most vulnerable will be shrimpers with small, one-boat operations who are middle-aged or older and cannot easily transition to another career, according to the report by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit group. click here to read the story 10:08
Invasive Asian carp less than 50 miles from Lake Michigan
The news is mixed as Great Lake states and the federal government continue to devote money and brainpower to stopping a potential Great Lakes ecological disaster — invasive Asian carp species making their way from the Mississippi River into Lake Michigan. First the good news: The leading edge of the mass of bighead and silver carp hasn’t made much progress lately up the Mississippi and connected rivers toward Lake Michigan. Now the bad news: The younger fish — juveniles — are moving closer, the evidence shows. And they can do more damage. “The bottom line is that the juvenile front is advancing, and made a big jump last year,” said Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. “And we still don’t have a permanent solution in place that’s going to solve this problem.” Read the story here 08:59
