Daybrook Fisheries and Omega Protein responsible for 850,000 pogies and untold bycatch that littered Cameron parish shorelines.
“I urge you to take action to ensure that our beaches and fisheries are protected from future incidents like this. Extend the menhaden harvest buffer zone to one mile. At one mile, there is plenty of room for the commercial menhaden fishery to operate safely and effectively off the coast with fewer impacts to our shorelines and our fisheries like the ones referenced above. Allowing them to fish 1/4 mile off the beach, often in water less than 8 feet deep is not working.”
-Senator Jeremy Stine
“It is very difficult for me to understand and explain to my constituents how we as a state can reduce the limits of recretional anglers in the name of protecting certain species, but allow the commercial industry to kill thousands of fish with no recourse. It is also important to consider why all other coastal states in the union have restricted commercial menhaden fishing, but Louisiana does very little to restrict this activity.”
-Representative Troy Romero
Last week, Senator Jeremy Stine of Lake Charles and Representative Troy Romero of Jennings each sent letters to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) leadership asking for action to protect Louisiana’s coast from the impacts of industrial menhaden reduction fishing. During the week of September 11 – September 15, Daybrook Fisheries and Omega Protein combined to dump a reported 850,000 menhaden and countless amounts of bycatch, including hundreds of bull reds. This occurred near Rutherford Beach and Holly Beach in Cameron Parish, in three separate incidents confirmed by LDWF.
CCA would like to thank Sen. Stine and Rep. Romero for their leadership. You can view each of their letters below.
