Now is the time to be fishing the fertile waters stretching from the Mississippi River’s South Pass to Four Bayou Pass, as Deepwater Horizon’s oily fingers are turning westward to raise the distinct possibility of recreational fisheries closures as early as next week.
We believe, based on discussions with those tasked with managing the state’s fisheries, that Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials will simply have no choice but to extend as far west as Four Bayou the closures already in effect along most of the river’s east side.
LDWF officials are properly hesitant to say closure of these waters is forthcoming (“I won’t speculate,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham), but the gravity of the situation was clear in his words during the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting.
“I don’t want to (close the fisheries), but we’ll have to wait and see,” Barham said. “I don’t want to close it, but we’re going to take action based on what’s out there.”
If “what’s out there” is the oily stain of Deepwater Horizon, managers’ hands are going to be forced.
And the oil certainly seems to be moving westward. The latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast shows oil stretching westward and even northward past the mouth of Southwest Pass by 6 p.m. Friday (May 7) – and that’s the absolute worst-case scenario.
From there, a southerly wind will likely push the surface sheen toward famed fisheries like Empire while subsurface currents will drag oil suspended in the water column toward Grand Isle.
There’s little LDWF officials can do but close the fisheries if that happens.
So we encourage our readers to hook up their boats, head for the coast and spend time catching the plentiful speckled trout, reds, flounder and anything else that will bite. The marinas need you, and it certainly might be the last opportunity for the foreseeable future to build memories.
Sitting home holding our collective breath won’t do any good, and the fish are out there waiting. Go get them while you can.
