Shrimp Season Showdown: Oilmen, shrimper at odds over blasting

A huge blasting operation by an energy exploration company in prime shrimping waters has pit oilmen against fishermen, who say it interferes with what had promised to be a lucrative white shrimp season.

The exploration firm, Houston-based Castex Energy, says it has done all that is required and more before commencing their 400-plus square mile, $50 million project, which requires detonation of C-4 and other explosives beneath state waters.

A Tri-Parish Times review of documents and interviews with federal, state and private industry officials as well as fishermen, meanwhile, reveals strong evidence to support allegations that shrimpers were thrown under the boat by the very state agency that is supposed to protect them.

“We have learned from this experience and will apply the lessons learned to future permitted activities along the coast,” said Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham, responding to allegations that his agency dropped the ball by scheduling major explosive work and the shrimping season to commence at the same time.

LDWF plays a key role in permitting seismic exploration within state waters.

One state representative independently investigating the situation said he expects to schedule legislative hearings to address the rules governing blasting permits, particularly regarding notice to conflicting user groups who might be affected.

Rep. Gordon Dove Jr. (R-Houma) expressed surprise that as chairman of the Natural Resources Committee that he was just now learning of the project.

• A state official confirms a Castex claim that company representatives were told orally to have work in the disputed area completed before the start of teal season, despite the potential effect on shrimpers.

• Dolphins and sea turtles were excluded from the state’s determination of whether wildlife is at risk from the project.

• Despite the unprecedented size and scope of the blasting project, with knowledge that it would conflict with shrimpers, state officials made no move beyond legally imposed minimum standards – publication in the legal notice section of newspapers – to give early warning or facilitate dialogue.

POOR MANAGEMENT

State Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Napoleonville) said after his review of the conflict that shrimper sensitivity should be expected and accommodated, considering the poor spring season they suffered, hardships spawned by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and bouts with unfavorable weather.

“It’s poor management and poor government and companies knowing the situation and knowing that these poor guys are struggling out there,” Harrison said. “This is just heaping bad news on top of the bad news they have had to deal with over the past several years.”

The project extends on land and near-shore waters from Four League Bay eastward to Oyster Bayou, and it includes waters in both St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes.

Seismic imaging is the use of explosives to bounce sound waves off of underground areas to reveal the existence of crude oil or natural-gas bearing formations. Seismologists use ultrasensitive devices called geophones to record the sound waves as they echo within the earth.

The practice can be hazardous to shrimp boats because their trawls can get hung up in the cables and related equipment, which in kind can be damaged by the shrimp boats.

The need to avoid lines in the water – which are placed in different areas at different times – can make for navigation challenges. An unknown factor is the effect, so far unknown for sure, on the shrimp themselves.

The blasting could cause the prized white shrimp to enter other waters with which shrimpers are less familiar, placing them at greater risk for tears to nets and damage to boats, as well as the added expenditure of hundreds of dollars per day on fuel trying to locate them.

Buoys mark the seismic equipment, but the buoys have no lights, making it vulnerable to damage.

DOLPHIN DILEMMA

There is another issue which for shrimping interests transcends the commercial aspects.

Shrimpers have for years taken the blame regarding sea turtle and dolphin mortality. The blasting, which arguably can be harmful to both species, could result in harm that shrimpers say will result in blame on their shoulders.

Louisiana’s rules for blasting in state waters include cautionary procedures regarding threatened and endangered species, but Wildlife and Fisheries spokesman Bo Boehringer, when asked for specifics, said dolphins and sea turtles were not included in the survey his agency did in regard to the Castex project.

“Since … dolphins are not threatened or endangered species, they are not in the Natural Heritage section inventory and thus not a species which was part of the permit review process for the currently permitted area where seismic work is now ongoing,” he said. “Relative to sea turtles, which are endangered and can be found along the Louisiana coast, their presence is tracked in the Natural Heritage section inventory by nesting sites. There are no sea turtle nesting sites in the Natural Heritage section inventory within the area currently permitted.”

The dolphin issue in the long run may not sit well with federal officials, who have confirmed that the Marine Mammal Protection Act requires blasters to obtain a letter of authorization from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

No such letter has been obtained for the Castex project.

NMFS can take no action if such a letter has not been obtained, unless a problem emerges. Should dolphins turn up stranded or otherwise injured in relation to the blasting, civil and criminal penalties may be assessed against the permit-holder if the authorization was not obtained, confirms Connie Barclay, a NMFS spokeswoman.

NO TIME FOR TURTLES

The sea turtles are enigmatic. They – like the dolphins – are subject to myriad protections in the federal water. But for the three-mile stretch of water between Louisiana’s coast and the open sea, protections are not in place. As Boehringer mentioned, nesting turtles are protected but are not believed to be in the blasting area. No provisions are made for those who might be out for an afternoon swim.

LDWF officials said the list of endangered species in the report concerning the blasting is not public record, because of concerns that people will seek them out.

No outright conflicts were reported Monday, when shrimpers took to the water along with hundreds of workers involved with the blasting project.

But some in the shrimp industry say they are concerned that miscommunication could result in fisticuffs.

“Chase boats” that warn mariners away from the blasting area have already had confrontations with shrimpers, who came away with the impression that they were being chased from waters they have a right to be on.

STOPPED FROM SHRIMPING

Dularge shrimper Chad Rogers said he was in the area when a boat accosted him.

“He stopped me from going in there,” said Rogers, who picked up his nets and left. “I was polite to him. I didn’t argue.”

When he contacted a contractor for Castex by telephone after his return, Rogers was told that he would be allowed to shrimp in that area, but that he would be responsible for any damage to the company’s equipment.

Rogers, a father of three with one on the way, said the halt would cost him money, and that he doesn’t see where anyone will be able to reimburse him.

At first he was reluctant to discuss the situation, acknowledging that energy exploration is an important industry in south Louisiana. But he is part of an important industry too, he said, wishing that some accommodation – perhaps a hold up of the project until the white shrimp season was well underway or complete – might have occurred.

Local officials affirm that the shrimpers have the right to be on the water and that nobody can chase them absent appropriate authorization.

Shrimpers said they were told on the water that the Terrebonne Parish Water Patrol would be called if they remained in areas that might interfere.

Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said he has not been advised of any conflict, and that he would regard it as a matter for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to settle, since they are one of the permitting agencies.

“It would fall under their authority. They might ask us to assist them,” Larpenter said. “If seismograph people said we are doing this, we don’t want shrimp boats, I would say do you have a court order or do you have permission from Wildlife and Fisheries to stop it. We would respond if we had to in order to keep the peace.”

NON-EFFECTIVE NOTICE

The first Rogers and other shrimpers – as well as the buyers who pay for the catch – heard of the project was a little over a week ago.

Castex employees or contractors dropped off maps showing the affected area at docks in Dulac and Dularge, with a phone number for people to call if they had questions.

Boehringer said his agency ran notices for 10 days as required by law in both The Courier in Houma and the Morgan City Review, through April 22, and supplied affidavits to that effect. The notice states that a community meeting would be held on that date, at 6 pm at the Houma Holiday Inn, “to answer seismic related questions or concerns. All area officials and landowners are invited.”

Dularge shrimp dealer Al Marmande said if he had seen the notice he would have had no idea that it applied to him, his industry or the shrimpers he buys from.

“If it doesn’t say anything about Four League Bay or the Gulf how we would we have known it was our area or that it would have affected the opening of the August season?” Marmande said. “If they had notified us directly or some of the leaders in the industry maybe we could have talked them into doing it after December. They could have had all the way to May. If we had been aware maybe we could have pleaded our case.”

Compromise or development of a working relationship, Marmande and others in the industry said, might have served everyone better.

TRYING TO GET ALONG

Pete Addison, a Castex vice president, says his company wants to be a good neighbor. The job, he said, is a massive undertaking and could mean oil leases for the state, the Terrebonne Parish School District. Apache and Conoco – names familiar in Terrebonne Parish – are involved in the project as well.

“We are aware that there are multiple user groups when you have a project located within the coastal zone area,” Addison said. “That is why we go through a litany of public notice and permitting requirements in order to get approval or even attempt something like this. With a project this size there is no way you can avoid user groups such that you avoid them all. If you are not dealing with shrimpers you are dealing with hunters or crabbers.”

Changing the dates, he said, was not an option.

“In the middle of winter there is no water to do it with,” Addison said. “You have shrimp season, duck season, so the way we approach a project like this is we go through all the protocols for all the permitting. We invite people. We tell them when we are going to be out there. We have been distributing maps, telling the shrimpers here is where we are laying stuff out, so if you want to avoid it use these coordinates. We are not required to do that. We are trying to get along with everybody.”

Addison said that because the project is so big and will go on for so long – it is expected to last a year – that “there can be no stopping and starting.”

He also confirmed that state officials made clear the project could not interfere with September’s duck season.

“The state in no uncertain terms told us we had to shut down in the wildlife management area during hunting season,” Addison said, adding that without that assurance the company’s coastal permit would not be issued.

MISUNDERSTOOD

Use of the explosives is tried and true, Addison said. Workers drill 150 feet down below the mud line and insert a charge.

Castex started seeking permits last year and suffered a particularly long wait from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Addison said that from his point of view the message has been misunderstood of miscommunicated.

“We have got boats out there trying to meet with shrimpers and with local people trying to say here is where the project is today, we would appreciate it if you would shrimp over there. We have tried to coach our guys that they are supposed to recognize that the shrimpers have the right to be out there too. Our message is let’s just respect each other’s equipment.”

Addison said he is not aware of the NMFS requirements concerning Marine Mammal Protection Act authorization letters.

But he communicated assurances that many monitors are watching the water for potential interaction with wildlife.

“We have state monitors and individual bigger private landowners,” Addison said. “We take these guys out, they are welcome to be there every day. The monitor has the ability to shut us down.”

Conoco does over flights every two days to check for wildlife interaction, Addison said. And weekly meetings are held to review any problems recorded in logbooks.

AFTER THE FACT

Kimberly Chauvin of the David Chauvin Seafood Company in Dulac was incensed when she learned of the duck season caveat.

“You are looking at a state agency who has its priorities mixed up,” she said. “You are going to take people putting food on the table, making a living and put above them something which is recreational. That makes no sense to me how it can be that screwed up. You are taking away money from people who are having to make money to pay bills on this season.”

Chauvin said she has nothing against hunting and that many in her family are avid duck hunters.

“But I am sure if you ask some of them, they will tell you work comes before play,” she said.

She is also not impressed by the claims by Castex that they are going above and beyond to communicate with shrimpers.

“They are doing something after the fact and after the fact does not constitute that you worked with other people beforehand. But now you want us to help you? You did not respect that an industry is going to lose money again over the oilfield and you did nothing to make this right and you did not have the respect to come to them. We have a turtle issue that is sitting on the shoulder of the fisherman and you are going to make sure that you are not seen as the culprit.”

Dularge shrimper Chad Rogers said he was halted from trawling by a contractor for Castex Energy in a crucial shrimping area.

JAMES LOISELLE | TRI-PARISH TIMES