On Wednesday, May 19, the Louisiana House of Representatives passed HB 535 in a 67-28 vote. The future of the bill is now up to the Senate, where it was received on May 20.
If the bill is passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor, HB 535 would create exclusion zones along the Louisiana coast where the commercial harvest of menhaden is prohibited. These exclusion zones would stretch between a half-mile and 3 miles from the shore, depending on several factors, including long-standing “gentlemen’s agreements.”
HB 535 was introduced by Rep. Joseph Orgeron of Larose on April 2, and received a favorable, 10-4 vote by the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment last week.
The push to regulate the menhaden industry has been gaining strength for the last 2 to 3 years. Recreational fisherman and charter services have reported beaches covered in dead fish, including redfish, drum, and speckled trout, species that are the bedrock of Louisiana’s more than $3 Billion recreational fishing industry.
According to Rep. Orgeron, the estimated 20 million pounds of dead by-catch–redfish, sea trout, and drum–floating in Louisiana’s coastal waters each year has “agitated” recreational fisherman, of whom, there are estimated to be about 24,000.
“We receive thousands of reports of these things happening,” Rep. Orgeron said, as he gestured toward a stack of printed pages a foot in height.
Opponents of the bill, specifically, Rep. Mack Cormier of Belle Chasse and Rep. Beryl Amedee of Gray, addressed the chamber, providing fiery, if not successful, opposition to HB 535.
Debate over the bill
Debate on the House floor was heated.
“How elitist and entitled must one be to say (recreational fishermen) deserve more than 99.5% of a catch, 97.9% of a catch, and at the expense of poor people’s jobs,” said Rep. Cormier. “They’re coming for the shrimpers; the shrimpers will be next; the shrimpers and the oystermen after this.”
“We worked on this for 3 months,” said Rep. Fontenot of Thibodaux, of talks that broke down prior to the filing of HB 535. “I started (negotiating) at 3 miles, Rep. Cormier.
“Do you know why I agreed to half a mile?” he asked. “Because 80-plus percent of their catch is outside of a half-mile; furthermore, the draft on their boats is damaging the seafloor.”
In a roll-call vote, the House passed HB 535 by a margin of 29 votes. The bill will now move to the Senate.
“We were pleased to see the House of Representatives pass Rep. Orgeron’s bill, HB 535,” said David Cresson, CCA Louisiana CEO and a vocal supporter of the measure. “In doing so, that body advanced a measure that the people of Louisiana have asked for. It’s good legislation and good conservation.”
“We appreciate the efforts of all of the leaders in the House that helped to see this thing through,” he said. “It’s a good piece of legislation that would provide the protection that our coast desperately needs, while still allowing the industry to harvest at the levels that they need. In our eyes, it’s a good conservation measure that still provides for the needs of the different user groups.”
“The bill at this point is only halfway through the process,” Cresson said, warning supporters that “we’ll have a tough battle in the Senate.”
