In October, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a Notice of Intent (NOI) establishing a coastal buffer zone for the commercial harvest of menhaden (pogies) 1-mile off the entire Louisiana coastline and three miles from Grand Isle and the area between Holly Beach and Rutherford Beach in western Louisiana. The NOI also establishes rules for reporting and clean-up of fish spills by the Industry.

These extended coastwide buffers will allow for the menhaden reduction industry to make their necessary harvest while protecting our fragile shorelines and the fish and wildlife that live there. We have all seen the impacts that this industry has on our coastal areas, especially when the operations occur in very shallow waters.

As of October, Daybrook Fisheries and Omega Protein were responsible for 18 individual fish spills in 2023, wasting millions of pogies and untold numbers of redfish and other bycatch. In July, a vessel fishing for Daybrook was cited for illegally harvesting 86,000 pounds of menhaden “well inside” the ¼ mile buffer zone. Last September, an Omega crew cut and abandoned an enormous net containing an estimated 900,000 menhaden and failed to mark the dangerous, abandoned gear. Each year, Daybrook and Omega ships from Mississippi and Louisiana harvest billions of pogies and kill thousands of spawning redfish in Louisiana waters.

The NOI is now in the public comment period. Please send your comments today, expressing your support of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and their Menhaden Buffer NOI.