Fishermen said they need work in the wake of back-to-back seasons impacted by disasters, during Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources meeting Tuesday.
The 2010 fishing season was disrupted by the BP oil spill and the 2011 season was marred by the release of freshwater from the Bonnet Carre Spillway into the Mississippi Sound from May to June.
The freshwater caused an 86 percent mortality rate of oysters in the western Mississippi Sound, said Joe Jewell, assistant director of fisheries for the state Department of Marine Resources.
George Stores, an oysterman from McHenry, said fishermen need work.
Plans for oyster reef restoration as part of Natural Resource Damage Assessment process stemming from the BP oil spill need to include putting fishermen to work, Stores said.
“I know you know this, but I want to reiterate that the fishermen need to be involved in this. If we are going to move oysters we need to be involved in it,” he said.
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