Tag Archives: Mississippi
Biloxi: See photos as the 94th Blessing of the Fleet rings in the start of shrimping season
The sun was shining and the humidity was at a minimum as the shrimping season officially kicked off Sunday with the 94th annual Blessing of the Fleet in Biloxi. Two boats, the Captain Justin and Gunsmoke, were honored for their decorations with Captain Justin receiving first place in the boat decorating contest and Gunsmoke receiving the second place award. “Shrimp season is open. The blue economy is extremely important to the gulf coast,” said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who was briefly in attendance. “Literally we help feed not only Mississippi, but the world.” Lots of photos of boats and happy people! >click to view< 09:01
Shrimpers and Crabbers Get Paid to Collect Abandoned Traps, Saving Wildlife from Derelict Fishing Hazards
Fishermen in Mississippi are getting paid to collect derelict crab traps, saving wildlife from getting caught in them. A bounty of $5 is offered for every abandoned trap collected, and in just three years the program, launched by Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, a nonprofit fishermen’s organization, has collected over 3,000 such traps. This is perfect for fishermen looking to supply the Gulf Coast with delicious seafood, but what happens when the traps are abandoned or become lost? Their lethal trapping power remains and carries on indiscriminately, a phenomenon known as ghost fishing. >click to read< 12:29
Pass Christian grants temporary relief for struggling seafood industry
This week, the Board of Aldermen voted not to raise the long-term lease payments for the harbor’s commercial fisherman this year, which are contracted to increase by 4% every June. “This few hundred extra dollars will just help offset something,” Harbor Master Russell Holliman said. While shrimp may be fleeting, dealers also said they have not had an oyster season in more than five years. For Darlene Kimball, her tool to unload them has been immobile and rusting as she fights to keep Kimball Seafood afloat after nearly a century in business. Fisherman Gerald Pavolini said the industry he has known for about 40 years is now headed in one direction, and it’s not up. “The fuel prices went up. The shrimp went down, the prices,” he said. “We’ll make it, someway, somehow, I guess.” With a new shrimp season starting on Monday, fishermen will soon set sail with great hope. Video, >click to read< 15:04
Shrimp season in Mississippi to open on May 22
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) has set the opening date for the 2023-2024 shrimp season in state territorial waters for Monday, May 22 at 6 a.m. All regulations of the MDMR will be in full force and effect, and all boats engaged in catching and transporting shrimp from Mississippi waters must be licensed or permitted by the agency before beginning operations. Staff will continue to sample prior to the opening date. The shrimp season opening date may be postponed if sampling indicates movement of large numbers of juvenile brown shrimp into this area. >click to read< 13:04
Shrimp is the fruit of the sea, and Mississippi has many ways to celebrate National Shrimp Day all month long
As Bubba from “Forrest Gump” said, there are many, many ways to cook shrimp, and restaurants on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are ready to offer dozens of them in celebration of National Shrimp Day. In anticipation of the day created to recognize America’s favorite seafood, National Shrimp Day on May 10, Coastal Mississippi has curated a variety of ways travelers can celebrate all month long. The region, which produces nearly three-fourths the nation’s domestic shrimp, has many unique experiences for seafood enthusiasts, from learning how to find your own fresh catch to exploring the history of the seafood industry. >click to read< 17:46
In Depth: Mississippi Has Invested Millions of Dollars to Save Its Oysters. They’re Disappearing Anyway.
By 2015, it was clear that Mississippi oysters were in crisis. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant convened an oyster council to come up with solutions. “This is the soybean of the sea,” Bryant said at a community gathering in 2015 at which he unveiled the council’s report. “We’re going to make sure everyone enjoys it.” The council set a goal of producing 1 million sacks of oysters a year by 2025. But almost a decade later, that goal is nowhere in sight: In a region that helped pioneer the oyster industry, only 457 sacks were harvested in 2022, none of them from the public reefs that the state had worked to restore. “They’re just wasting money,” said Keath Ladner, a former oyster fisherman whose family was in the seafood business for three generations. “And the fishermen know this.” Video, Photos, >click to read< 09:37
Coast Guard rescues 3 boaters near Pascagoula, Mississippi
The Coast Guard rescued three boaters Monday after their vessel began taking on water near Pascagoula, Mississippi. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders received a distress alert at 8:11 a.m. Monday from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) approximately 11 miles southeast of Pascagoula. The EPIRB was registered to a 50-foot commercial fishing vessel, F/V Dat Parker. The boatcrew located the sinking vessel with one boater in a life raft and the other two boaters standing on the bow. Photos, >click to read< 21:45
Mississippi Scientists Develop Unique Method Using Sound To Track Sea Turtle Data
Wayne Carpenter, senior research and development engineer, and Bradley Goodwiller, research scientist, are using sound to monitor turtles that exit shrimp trawls through turtle exclusion devices. “Acoustic impacts with TEDs have implications in understanding the population, migration and allocation of the species,” Carpenter said. “All of this contributes to important conservation work.” The project, Acoustic Enumeration of Sea Turtle Impacts with TEDs (Turtle Excluder Devices), was funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. The federal government has mandated TEDs in the shrimping industry since 1987. They have been shown to be highly effective; however, obtaining information about sea turtle interactions with TED-equipped shrimp trawls has been challenging. >click to read< 14:25
New incentive program for Mississippi shrimpers
There’s a new incentive program for Mississippi shrimpers! “The goal of it is to have shrimpers remove marine debris, any single-used plastics, old fishing gear that they come across as they do their regular shrimping throughout the year. So, we’re incentivizing them to remove that and bring it and dispose of it properly at any of the harbors down here.” Shrimpers can sign up through Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United or Mississippi State University Extension Center. Video, >click to read< 09:17
Coast Guard assists fishing vessel taking on water offshore Pascagoula, Mississippi
The Coast Guard assisted a vessel taking on water 51 miles south of Pascagoula, Mississippi, Sunday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard District Eight received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon at approximately 12 a.m. with a location 51 miles south of Pascagoula. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report of the 75-foot shrimping vessel, F/V Mr. Wood taking on water at the same position. Video, >click to read< 20:24
Fishermen sentenced for poaching paddlefish in MS lake
Two commercial fishermen from Kentucky illegally harvested paddlefish and paddlefish roe from a Mississippi lake, and it cost them their livelihood for five years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi announced. James Lawrence “Lance” Freeman, 27, of Eddyville, Kentucky, and Marcus Harrell, 34, of Murray, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act,,, According to prosecutors, Freeman or Harrell would take roe they harvested from paddlefish in Moon Lake back to Kentucky to sell to commercial processors, falsely claiming that the paddlefish had been caught in the Ohio River,,, >click to read< 17:34
Don’t Cage Our Oceans: Fish farming may threaten rare Gulf whale
The site approved for the Velella Epsilon fish farm in federal waters west of Venice is one of just three potential aquaculture opportunity areas under consideration off Florida’s Gulf coast. There are six others — three in the central Gulf south of Louisiana and Mississippi and three east of Texas — as well as 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. It’s part of a collusive effort between fish farming companies and the federal government to divide up national waters for profit, James Mitchell, legislative director of Don’t Cage Our Oceans, said. >click to read< 13:49
Mississippi: 93rd Annual Blessing of the Fleet welcomes the new shrimp season
Boats lined up alongside Deer Island celebrating the 93rd Annual Blessing of the Fleet. The annual blessing which promotes a successful and safe fishing season is a tradition in Biloxi. Michael Kovacevich remembers attending the ceremony as a young boy. “My family came from Croatia to Biloxi and like hundreds of others to work the seafood, so you know just about everybody in Biloxi can tie their past to seafood,” Kovacevich said. This year, the Shrimp King and Queen were on the blessing boat. King Joseph Powell said riding on the blessing boat brought him old memories of when he was a fisher. “It brings back old memories of the Mid 50′s when I was a shrimper and being on the boat. >click to read< 09:40
Blessing of the Fleet returns to the Pass Christian Harbor Saturday
A celebration steeped in tradition and history returns to the Pass Christian Harbor this Saturday. The annual Blessing of the Fleet returns and organizers hope it brings awareness to the struggles faced by our Coast seafood industry. Chairman Kirk Kimball said, “It’s an honor to bring back something that we can put back on the pedestal that was once dusty and we want to refine it and put it back again.” Shrimpers will once again be blessed for a safe and bountiful season at the Pass Christian Harbor when the 44th annual event happens this weekend. > click to read < 10:25
Kyle Craig of Deadliest Catch Death: The Family and Fans of a Deceased Artist Are Shocked.
As a deckhand on the F/V Brenna A., Kyle Craig put in long hours. Who Was Kyle Craig? An Ocean Springs, Mississippi man named Kyle Craig is 26 years old. December 21, 1994, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was the date of his birth. Craig Enterprises was owned and operated by Kyle. He became enamored with ATVs and boats, and he enjoyed buying and selling both. He was also capable of repairing a motor while keeping his eyes shut. We posted >his obituary here on August 1, 2021<. He loved the sea, his work, and appreciated his crewmates. There wasn’t a lot of detail on what had 
happened to Kyle. Watching the statistics the other day, we noticed a big spike in traffic with no explanation, but it led back to Kyles obituary. Then we stumbled onto this article which brings the tragic end of his life to light. The cause of Kyle Craig’s tragic death is detailed below. We extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and his shipmates. >click to read< 17:17
Mississippi: Fishing industry focuses on new fisheries, education
Environmental disasters, global markets, strict fishing regulations and the increasing average age of working fishers is bearing down on the industry, threatening its long-term viability. These factors have Ryan Bradley concerned for the future of the Mississippi fishing industry. So, he is taking action to help fishers stay in the industry and draw young people to the business. “This is a proud industry. We work hard. But it is a high-stress profession, and you have to be a thick-skinned person to do this job,” said Bradley, who is a fifth-generation commercial fisherman and executive director of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the common interests of the state’s fishermen, fishing industry and seafood consumers. >click to read< 19:06
Mississippi shrimp season in state of uncertainty thanks to storms, heavy rains
At Forte Seafood in Pass Christian, they say ever since Hurricane Ida came through, the white shrimp have been pretty big and plentiful. That makes up for an awful brown shrimp season, as those shrimp never got a chance to grow due to low salinity from heavy rains. “Starting out, the brown shrimp never really grew. They were all around 50-60 to 60-70 count for the majority of the summer,” said Jeremy Forte. “Once the storm came through, it actually made them bigger. I don’t know if it’s different shrimp from somewhere else or what,,, Video, >click to read< 14:50
Hurricane Ida: Moving north into the Gulf, expected to strengthen to Cat 4
Ida, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday. Sunday is the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Watches and warnings are in effect for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Saturday could be rainy in south Louisiana, making storm prep and evacuations more complicated, forecasters said. The rain is not from Hurricane Ida but from another disturbance moving over the state. Lots of details, >click to read<, to be updated. Life-threatening winds, storm surge, flooding and tornadoes from Hurricane Ida are expected Sunday. 11:04
Mississippi shrimp season opens, fishermen hoping for the best
Brian Chester has had good luck in the open waters south of the Intercoastal waterway, where success can be elusive. “It’s been OK,” he said. “It’s not been bad.” It’s kept him in business, but when state waters open, he’s hoping to have even more shrimp for more dockside customers lined up at his boat, Lady Sariah. “It just means more areas of shrimp,” he said. “We might be able to catch more shrimp and people actually know and they can come out and purchase the fresh seafood.” So far, 375 commercial shrimp licenses have been issued. That is down compared to last year’s 473 and 493 in the 2019-2020 season >click to read< 07:31
Opening of 2021 Mississippi Sound shrimp season could be delayed
Coast shrimpers will have to be a little more patient before they can drop their nets in the Mississippi Sound this summer. Rainy weather during the last two months has caused salinity levels and lower water temperatures in our local waters, meaning it could push the start of the 2021 shrimp season back a few weeks. “With brown shrimp, two of the factors that influence growth are water temperature and salinity,,, “Once these rains stop – if they stop and the salinity starts to rise,,, video, >click to read< 19:17
Mississippi: Shrimp industry leader Richard Gollott has passed away
Richard Gollott, a longtime commissioner with the Commission on Marine Resources and seafood industry leader, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 77. Gollott opened Cap’n Gollott Seafood in 1969, which grew to be one of the largest oyster processing companies on the Gulf Coast. He served as president of Gollott’s Oil Dock & Ice House, Inc., and vice president of Golden Gulf Coast Pkg Co., Inc, working alongside his son and brother as partners. Gollott was a lifelong resident of the Coast and a founding member of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. He also was a board member of the American Shrimp Processors Association. >click to read< 14:21
Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources talk Bonnet Carré Spillway, CARES Act funding
Many fishermen got some help from that $1.5 million of CARES Act money that was granted to the state of Mississippi, with most of that going to the seafood industry. $734,222 of that money went to local commercial fishermen, $451,284 went to seafood dealers and processors, and $239,179 of it went to the charter boat fleet.,, At Tuesday’s Commission on Marine Resources meeting, Joe Spraggins, Department of Marine Resources executive director, explained the process of how $21 million in Bonnet Carré Spillway relief funding will get to those in the industry. >click to read< 18:25
Wicker, Hyde-Smith, Palazzo Announce $30M in Aid for U.S. Shrimp Industry
The announcement comes after the Mississippi lawmakers sent a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that he use his authority to purchase and distribute Gulf seafood to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. Recently-enacted legislation, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, includes additional support for USDA programs that provide food to distressed communities. “Mississippi’s shrimp industry has been hit hard by COVID19, with many vessels having to stay tied to the dock due to collapsing markets. We are glad to hear the USDA is stepping up purchases of Gulf shrimp and applaud the hard work of our Congressional delegation to make it happen,” >click to read< 09:17
Biloxi, Mississippi: The 91st annual Blessing of the Fleet is happening Sunday!
After being pushed back a week due to bad weather, the 91st Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet takes place Sunday. The 91st Blessing of the Fleet is set to start at 2 p.m. in the Biloxi Channel when they drop the Memorial Wreath to honor deceased fishermen. Boats will form in the west end of the Biloxi Channel near the Beau Rivage and the parade will float east. The Committee encourages the boat owners from St. Michael, Vietnamese Martyrs and Blessed Seelos churches and the community to come out and celebrate this long-standing tradition in Biloxi. >video, click to read< 17:30
Mississippi’s Coast shrimpers cling to legacy through the industry’s choppy waters
Danny Ross, an Ocean Springs shrimper, has been on a boat for as long as he could walk. He remembers driving the family vessel as a kid, having to climb onto the dashboard to see over the steering wheel. “Two spokes to the left,” his dad would direct. He remembers, back on land, getting bad grades in art class because he would only draw one thing. “I’d draw a pretty good boat too,” he said. “Me and my brothers were always on the boat. The rigging, the pipes – that was our jungle gym. And our swimming pool? The boat would be shrimping and we’d be diving off the bow, catching ropes on the outrivers.” Ross, 55, recently tied up his boat after a disappointing season that saw fresh water kill 56 percent of Mississippi’s shrimp. The plummeting price of shrimp has made it difficult for Ross to find crew members, and instead he’s gone to work on another captain’s boat. After following five generations of fishermen into the business, he’s worried about the direction the industry is headed in. photos, >click to read<. This is a two part series, >click to read Part 1< , with photo gallery 08:09
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
Fisheries disaster declared in multiple fisheries, multiple states
Wednesday,, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced his determination that commercial fishery failures occurred for multiple fisheries between 2017 and 2019 in Alaska, California, Georgia, and South Carolina, while further finding that a catastrophic regional fishery disaster occurred for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama due to extreme flooding events in the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 17:41
Federal fisheries declaration approved for Mississippi
Congressional leaders announced a federal fisheries disaster declaration Wednesday morning to help South Mississippi fishermen affected by the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway. Mississippi leaders said in a statement that they are now working to expedite the funds set aside by the disaster declaration to provide fishermen with disaster relief more quickly. >click to read< 12:03
Wicker, Hyde-Smith, & Palazzo Commend Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration for Mississippi – >click to read<
Gulf Coast seafood industry slammed by freshwater from floods, states requesting federal fishery disaster funding
The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama asked months ago for U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to declare a fisheries disaster, a designation needed to secure federal grants for those whose livelihoods were affected in the Gulf region’s vital seafood industry. Alabama canceled its oyster season. It will be months before all the figures are in and the analysis completed to tell which Louisiana fisheries qualify, said Patrick Banks, assistant secretary for fisheries in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. >click to read< 12:47
Mississippi DMR hearing public comments on spillway relief funding
The 2019 openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway are still being felt here on the Gulf Coast a year later. NOAA has allocated about $88 million in relief funding due to the spillway impacts, and a little more than $21 million is coming to Mississippi. “Everything from the fin fish, to the crab, to the oysters, to the shrimp. Any type fish in the Gulf, it covers that,” said Joe Spraggins, “We’re not going to have that without our commercial fishermen. We’ve got to have them,” said Spraggins. “It’s a matter of whether you stay in business or not, and if these companies leave, if they ever leave us, we’ll never get them back, If these oyster fishermen shrimpers, crab fishermen, we’ll never get them back.” Video, >click to read< 08:56
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