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Don’t expect much fresh shrimp from Louisiana anytime soon.

Fresh water has inundated the Louisiana coast this year all the way from the Atchafalaya River to the western shores of Vermilion Bay, said Rodney Olander, chairman of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force.

Olander, who lives in Garden City, said he’s been in the shrimping business for 40 years and has never seen a season this bad. His family owns a shrimp dock at Cypremort Point located on Vermilion Bay in St. Mary Parish

For the first time in over 48 years, three weeks into the spring brown shrimp season the dock hasn’t purchased any shrimp caught in the bay, Olander said.

“That’s how bad it is,” Olander said.

At last week’s shrimp task force meeting, officials voted to join with the oyster and crab task forces to declare that all fisheries in Louisiana be declared a disaster, because numbers are down across the board in the state’s seafood industry.

Each of the last five years has gotten worse with lots of rainfall in the area. The fall 2018 season was the worst fall season Olander had ever experienced.

“I’m thinking there’s no way it can get any worse. Well, this year is by far the absolute worst ever,” Olander said.

Olander isn’t even attempting to catch shrimp in St. Mary Parish because of how poor a season it’s been. He’s instead trolling in Cocodrie in Terrebonne Parish where the catch is down, too.

Seafood industry officials are working to try to get relief to the people whose livelihood depends on the industry. Olander is fairly confident workers in the industry will eventually get help through a federal disaster declaration, but he and others are pushing to get some financial assistance to fishermen more quickly.

“It wouldn’t have to be a lot, just something to help the fishermen along to help pay their bills until the disaster funds become available, if they still do become available,” Olander said.

Though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has indefinitely delayed opening the Morganza Spillway, the spring shrimp season is already a disaster even if more water isn’t sent to the Atchafalaya Basin.

State officials don’t know yet the full effect that the inundation of freshwater may have on the fall shrimp season. Small white shrimp usually start moving into inland water in late June or early July. Once those shrimp reach a certain size, the fall season begins.

“This year, with the amount of fresh water, we don’t have any shrimp. So it’s looking we won’t even have a fall season, either,” Olander said.

It’s probable that the effects of high water this year could spill over into the 2020 shrimp seasons. During the 1973 flood, the effects lingered for several years before the shrimp harvest returned to normal, Olander said.

“We’re hoping we don’t have a repeat of that, but the thing is, nobody really knows,” he said.

On top of that, what’s referred to as freshwater is actually polluted freshwater with farmland runoff, industrial plants and sewer systems contributing to the flow, Olander said.

Olander also expects a record hypoxic zone, commonly known as a dead zone, which is an area where there’s not enough oxygen to sustain life.

On Monday, Nancy Rabalais and Gene Turner of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium released their prediction for the summer 2019 hypoxic zone. The June forecast of the size of the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico for late July is that it will cover 8,717 square-miles of the bottom of the continental shelf off Louisiana and Texas.

The predicted hypoxic area is about the size of the land area of New Hampshire and 67% larger than the average, researchers said.

Flowering “bee lawns” that attract pollinators are a compromise between fastidious turf management and the more casual yard approach. They add biodiversity to the landscape and need less maintenance. That makes them cost-effective, too.
Bee lawns are turf grasses blended with low-growing perennials that bloom again after mowing. They’re cared for like typical lawns, making them comfortable for playing and lounging. But they also contain protein-rich ingredients providing vital nutrients for foraging pollinators.
Their natural diversity — they might contain fine fescues mixed with such spontaneous plants as white clover, dandelions (that bloom early when little else is flowering), creeping thyme, daisies and shade-tolerant lamium — make them less demanding and more resilient than Kentucky bluegrass. Bee lawns require minimal watering and little fertilizing, encourage deeper roots and build healthier soil — especially when their clippings are returned to the turf.
James Wolfin, a graduate research assistant working on the University of Minnesota’s bee lawn project, suggests using the fescue Festuca brevipila.
“This grass has a thin leaf blade and a slow rate of growth,” Wolfin said. “The slow rate of growth is essential in making sure the grass blades do not create a canopy over the flowers.” Hand weeding is recommended.
For people who feel they don’t have the time, money or talent for gardening, bee lawns mean “we can mow our lawns less frequently, let the lawn flowers grow and provide habitat for bees,” said Susannah Lerman, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station in Amherst, Massachusetts. “Everyone can contribute to this simple solution for advancing bee conservation.”
Bee populations have been crashing for the past couple of decades because of habitat loss, chemical use and parasitic mites. These collapses are particularly worrisome since pollinators are instrumental in the growth of more than a third of the food making it to our tables.
Every pollinator plant helps rebuild those insect stocks, even if it’s just a part of a colorful arrangement on a corner of the property.
Sunny slopes, rocky ground, boulevards, athletic fields and golf courses are optimal locations. “Also, office parks could benefit from bee lawns, particularly since they have very low human traffic,” Lerman said.
Check, though, with your neighbors and city hall before doing any lawn-alternative landscaping.
“It shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to get your community on board with bee lawns,” Wolfin said. “In terms of dealing with neighbors, sometimes it can be useful to install a row or strip of rocks or wood chips along your fence line to hinder the ability of flowers to spread to your neighbor’s lawn.”
Signage also helps, he said.
Monitor growth regularly to ensure you’re not introducing invasive weeds or creating a tall, unsightly yard. Mowing to about 3 inches is a good rule to follow.
“The two-week mowing regime supported the highest abundance of bees,” Lerman said, citing data from a recent turf study in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“We documented 111 species of bee (mostly native species and the majority wild bees) using the lawn flowers in western Massachusetts suburban yards,” she said.
Bee lawns are compatible with family activities unless you run into aggressive colonies of ground-dwelling yellow jackets. Honeybees, wild bees and bumblebees usually are docile unless provoked.

Central Catholic’s Haley Fontenot led four Lady Eagles selections on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A All-State Softball Team.
Fontenot, a sophomore, earned first-team honors as an infielder.
The Lady Eagles had three honorable mention selections: freshman Hallie Crappell, senior Bailee Lipari and eighth-grader Hailey Skiles.
Fontenot finished the season with a .479 batting average. She had 45 hits, including 14 doubles, three triples and seven home runs. Fontenot collected 37 RBIs, scored 51 runs, had a .915 slugging percentage and was a perfect 39-for-39 in stolen bases.
“She was an amazing player,” Central Catholic Coach Linda Sanders said. “She was only a sophomore this year, and she does amazing at shortstop. She’s my leadoff hitter. … She gets on base. Her on-base percentage is amazing. She definitely led the district in stolen bases, so when she gets on, she steals bases, and she scores runs. She’s definitely a playmaker. She had an amazing year.”
Crappell recorded a 9-6 mark on the mound this year with a 3.84 ERA with 103 strikeouts.
“She’s a standout pitcher,” Sanders said. “She had a tremendous amount of strikeouts this year. She was dominating in the circle for us.”
At the plate, she batted .409 this season with 36 hits, including six doubles and two home runs. She had 23 RBIs.
“She also hit the ball well for us. … She had a great year this year, and I look forward to her doing big things for us in the future,” Sanders said.
Lipari batted .453 this year. She had 48 hits, including nine doubles, five triples and two home runs. She collected 32 RBIs, scored 33 runs and had a .689 slugging percentage.
“A great leader,” Sanders said. “She’s a silent leader. She’s very quiet, but everyone looked up to her. She played third base this year, had a great batting average as well and was very solid over there at third base. … I was very proud of her for leading this team, and she did very well this year.”
Skiles batted .435 this season. She had 27 hits, including five doubles and one triple. She collected nine RBIs and scored 34 runs. On the base paths, she was a perfect 26-for-26 in stolen bases.
“She was hard to get out,” Sanders said. “She hardly ever got out. She put the ball in play, and she gets on base, and only as an eighth grader, she did tremendous things for us this year. I was very proud of her for stepping up, and getting on base as much as she did.”
Blaire Bizette of Division IV state champion Catholic High-Pointe Coupee was named Class 1A’s Outstanding Player, while Taylor Leger of Lafayette Christian Academy is Division IV’s Coach of the Year.
Other representatives from District 7-1A, which Central Catholic competes in, to earn all-state honors were Sarah Diaz and Janci’ Aubre, both of Lafayette Christian, who earned first-team honors. Diaz was an infielder, while Aubre was a utility selection. Vermilion Catholic’s Ainsley Mallet was an honorable mention selection.
Additional reporting courtesy of The Houma Courier.

An official says a recent fish kill that occurred next to Lakeside Subdivision in Morgan City was the result of algae growth and torrential rain.

Authorities received reports that multiple fish were found dead late last week in Walnut Street Canal by Lakeside Subdivision in Morgan City. St. Mary Parish Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 2 maintains that canal.

The suspected cause of the fish kill is algae bloom combined with heavy rainfall that stirs up the water in the canal and removes oxygen from the water, District Board Chairman Lee Dragna said.

Closure of the gate on that canal at its intersection with Lake Palourde isn't the culprit, because the gate has been closed for six months without any prior fish kills, Dragna said. Also, a 3-inch valve at the gate allows water to flow all the time, he said.

On Tuesday, officials scooped as much of the algae as possible. But the dead fish weren't visible because they likely sank, Dragna said.