[StBernard] Oyster Harvesting and Salvaging Vessels

[Westley Annis]

Oyster Harvesting and Salvaging Vessels 

November 19, 2005

By: Steve Cannizaro


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Oyster-harvesters will be hired for mapping public oyster beds; Coast Guard
will soon start to salvage commercial vessels.

Veteran oyster-harvesters will soon be able to apply for jobs mapping public

oyster beds in St. Bernard Parish waters under a state Department of 
Wildlife and Fisheries program funded federally.

The program will be used to determine the amount of silt covering oyster 
beds but will also provide income for licensed oyster-harvesters, according 
to St. Bernard Parish Council member Ricky Melerine, who represents the 
eastern part of the parish

"They have 275 grids to map'' and it will take 2-3 days for each grid, 
Melerine said.

Parish government will start taking applications for the program on Nov. 28,

the Monday after Thanksgiving, Melerine said, and the mapping will start in 
December. Applications will be available at the Parish Information Center 
trailer office, a gray building with a wooden deck, and is located behind te

parish government building at 8201 West Judge Prez Drive in Chalmette.

There will be criteria for applicants and they must take a course on what to

do, he said.

Each applicant must have an oyster-harvester's license, be knowledgeable 
about the use of a GPS system and must have a larger boat capable of working

in rough waters in the Biloxi Bayou marsh and in Lake Borgne, Melerine said.

The areas to be mapped could be as much as four hors away by boat and would 
probably require saying out on the water for several days at a time, he 
said.

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Also on Nov. 28, the Coast Guard is expected to begin its program of 
salvaging commercial fishing vessels lost in Hurricane Katrina, Melerine
said.
About 50 commercial fishermen have signed up in recent weeks to have their 
vessels salvaged.

The Coast Guard will place found boats in in areas in Chalmette and in 
Hopedale where they can be repaired by their owners, Melerine said.