PRESS RELEASE Governor Authorizes Oyster Lease Inspections Following Hurricane Ike Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ (LDWF) biologists continue to conduct dredge sampling on the public oyster areas throughout the state and have found silt and vegetative overburden on some oyster reefs. This order allows leaseholders to conduct similar inspections of their leases to determine potential impacts from the storms. The Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) issued precautionary closures of molluscan shellfish growing areas 1 through 28 on Sept. 2, 2008 in response to Hurricane Gustav. This closure remains in effect due to Hurricane Ike and prohibits harvest from specific molluscan shellfish growing areas of Louisiana. Therefore, a special allowance by the governor was needed to provide leaseholders the opportunity to inspect their leases. Inspection activities will be allowed only on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., and will be pursuant to the following provisions: 1. Inspection activities will be allowed on only those oyster leases located in DHH molluscan shellfish growing areas 1 through 28; 2. No vessel used by an oyster lease holder for oyster lease inspection activities shall have on board or use more than one statutorily authorized dredge; 3. No vessel used by an oyster lease holder for oyster lease inspection activities shall have any sacks or containers on board: 4. A vessel used by an oyster lease holder for oyster lease inspection activities may have on board not more than a standard measurement of one barrel of oysters as described in R.S. 56:440. All oysters must be returned to the water prior to the vessel departing the oyster lease; 5. Under no circumstances shall an oyster lease holder and/or the vessel of an oyster lease holder remove or transport any oyster or oysters to or from an oyster lease within a molluscan shellfish growing area deemed closed by DHH; 6. For oyster lease inspections activities to be conducted on an oyster lease by any person other than the oyster lessee, the person shall have on board the vessel the written permission of the oyster lessee authorizing the oyster lease inspection activities on the oyster lease. DHH will reopen molluscan shellfish growing areas as soon as it is determined that environmental conditions are within the requirements specified by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. ###
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