Overfished for years to the point of collapse, red snapper may be on the rebound in the Gulf of Mexico. The most recent scientific survey shows the iconic Gulf fish's numbers finally starting to improve, though it is still being overfished. The Times Picayunereports Sunday that regulators are cautiously optimistic regarding the recent counts but may soon be inclined to raise the strict fishing quotas placed on red snapper. From the TP:
"We've been trying to end the overfishing of red snapper for over 20 years, and this is the first time we've been able to do it," said Roy Crabtree, the southeast regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service. "I think a lot of fishermen have endured a lot of pain over the last few years, so hopefully things start to change for the better."
The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, a regional advisory body that sets federal fishing regulations in the Gulf, could decide as soon as February to relax the current red snapper quota of 5 million pounds up to 6.9 million pounds, and possibly more in subsequent years. The 5 million pound target, which went into effect in 2008, is among the lowest ever catch limits for Gulf snapper.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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