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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,943
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,943 |
My favorite past time is inshore and offshore fishing in the MS Sound and Gulf. Spend ever spring, summer and most of fall on the water with the family. In all my years of being on the gulf and the beaches, I have only ever seen one dead sea turtle and it was obvious that it was done in by a boat prop.
Never seen a dead dolphin washed up on the beach nor have I ever read it reported locally.
The oysters are still here and the more prominent local restaurants are proud of their gulf caught oysters and shrimp.
The spillway debacle in LA is another story....but I have personally not witnessed any major effects on the AL coasts that can be contributed to the oil spill.
During the oil spill, all fishing was closed but reopened in Oct or Sep if I recall. The next year was some of the best fishing that we have seen in years just because all of the populations had a season off from fishing pressure.
OP, you were fed some BS.
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 11,916
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 11,916 |
Can't say about the oysters but last year the red fishing was darn good.
We went about 6-8 miles south of Gulfport and had a blast all day long.
One thing i noticed is that for a about a month there were no live bait shrimp to be had.
The thing about sewer water being put into the gulf has been going on forever.
They see the storm drains off the beach and they think they are sewer pipes.
The river release had an impact on how salty the sound water is and the fish move farther out,they can live in brackish water but if it gets out of balance they move south.
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,943
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,943 |
Those rigs are natural gas wells owned by a multitude of companies. They are prevalent the further west you get, inshore in Mobile Bay, as well as offshore. They are south of you as well, but further out, so they don't obstruct the view from your balcony.  As far as shrimp goes, we have pink shrimp (hoppers) in the spring, brown shrimp in the summer and white shrimp in the fall. The hoppers are my favorite, sweet, sweet. Royal Reds are caught far offshore and flash frozen. I think folks like them because they are big, but the flavor is not there at all for me. Spot on here Rick....though I have to disagree with you on the Royal Reds. Those things are just succulent and are by far a favorite for my wife and me. That doesn't mean I will turn my nose up on any of the others though! 
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 26,517
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 26,517 |
Left home for a brief road trip Friday afternoon. Have been in Orange Beach AL for about 48 hours now. We’re enjoying the nice weather,and beaches. Walking more than I have in months.
We met another couple from Ocean Springs, MS on the beach yesterday. We struck up a conversation about their cool electric driven bicycles, and the talk wandered into beaches,the water,and seafood.
They explained the differences between varieties of shrimp. Cool facts, but I’m not fussy about my shrimp as long as they are hot and plentiful.
They also claimed that the oysters were shipped in, as there is no longer an oyster industry anywhere in the gulf. They claimed that the Deep Water Horizon disaster wiped out almost all of the oysters and a large part of the crab population.
They talked about dead dolphins and sea turtles in large numbers.
They painted a pretty bleak picture of the gulf, with the 2010 oil spill and even floodwater releases by the Corp of Engineers as major destruction events for marine life.
Looking to the ‘fire for information here.
Is the gulf dead or dying? Likely to recover?
Writing this from the balcony outside our room, 3rd floor, Sleep Inn, Orange Beach AL
They are enviro-nazis pulling your leg. The Gulf and estuaries fully recovered. The famous Apalachicola oyster industry, in the Florida Panhandle, was damaged and flooded out by a hurricane. Had nothing to do with the oil leak. The Louisiana crab, shrimp and oyster industry recovered almost immediately and is thriving. The oyster beds were covered by the oil laden dispersant. The oyster fishers invested heavily in planting lime rock to give new oysters a place to grow. Oysters in LA and especially in MS are way off pre-spill numbers. The Spillway openings have been very hard on MS and LA east of the river. The frequent openings have more to do with the lower commercial landings than the spill though. Crabs lost almost an entire recruitment class in the year of the spill. I had a chat with a researcher who harvested numerous blue crabs from the affected area. He took a control group from an unaffected area. He was only able to induce spawn in less than 5% of those taken from the affected areas. He induced spawn in over 50% from the unaffected areas. Crab seem to be doing well now. Shrimp landings in LA over the past two years are at historic lows. Half of the historic highs. My belief is that the interior marsh being walled off by the levees is having an impact. I hope I am wrong. Again, not a BP spill issue.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,411
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,411 |
Left home for a brief road trip Friday afternoon. Have been in Orange Beach AL for about 48 hours now. We’re enjoying the nice weather,and beaches. Walking more than I have in months.
We met another couple from Ocean Springs, MS on the beach yesterday. We struck up a conversation about their cool electric driven bicycles, and the talk wandered into beaches,the water,and seafood.
They explained the differences between varieties of shrimp. Cool facts, but I’m not fussy about my shrimp as long as they are hot and plentiful.
They also claimed that the oysters were shipped in, as there is no longer an oyster industry anywhere in the gulf. They claimed that the Deep Water Horizon disaster wiped out almost all of the oysters and a large part of the crab population.
They talked about dead dolphins and sea turtles in large numbers.
They painted a pretty bleak picture of the gulf, with the 2010 oil spill and even floodwater releases by the Corp of Engineers as major destruction events for marine life.
Looking to the ‘fire for information here.
Is the gulf dead or dying? Likely to recover?
Writing this from the balcony outside our room, 3rd floor, Sleep Inn, Orange Beach AL
All of the above is approximately 80% horsescchhitt. I don’t mean you johnw.
The degree of my privacy is no business of yours.
What we've learned from history is that we haven't learned from it.
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Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,011
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 5,011 |
I buy Louisiana oysters all the time. The dolphin kill corresponded with their calving season happening when the spillways were open and had to do with Mississippi river water pushing the salt water out of the area. The beaches on the Louisiana coast look the best I have seen them in 35 years. The real damage from the Horizon in my opinion came from the chemicals the government made them spray on the oil to make it sink. Most of the free oil would have evaporated. and just heavies would have been left. Sunshine and wave action would have done most of the cleanup. Now there is a combination of crude and chemicals through the whole water column. or lying on the bottom where the fish contact it.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132 |
lot of people don't realize oil seeps out of the gulf floor naturally, why we get tar balls on the beach sometimes.
God bless Texas-----------------------
Old 300
I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull
Its not how you pick the booger..
but where you put it !!
Roger V Hunter
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593 |
Bama Rick,
Thanks for the recommend to Ft Morgan. The ferry was cool, and we met some awesome folks both on the ferry and over supper afterwards.
We took a dolphin tour boat this morning, and had a great conversation with the captain, who also runs a fishing charter. He agreed with most here that the gulf is not in as bad a shape as was presented to us by the couple we met on Sunday.
He did say that sport fishing has suffered for some species, like flounder. He also said that water born infections that were unheard of ten years ago are frequent now. Says he will not bodily go in some waters in the summer time. Said that in recent years that deaths from infected cuts happen every year, and that loss of limbs from infection is becoming common. He’d never known of either to occur on a regular basis, locally.
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 26,517
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 26,517 |
Bama Rick,
Thanks for the recommend to Ft Morgan. The ferry was cool, and we met some awesome folks both on the ferry and over supper afterwards.
We took a dolphin tour boat this morning, and had a great conversation with the captain, who also runs a fishing charter. He agreed with most here that the gulf is not in as bad a shape as was presented to us by the couple we met on Sunday.
He did say that sport fishing has suffered for some species, like flounder. He also said that water born infections that were unheard of ten years ago are frequent now. Says he will not bodily go in some waters in the summer time. Said that in recent years that deaths from infected cuts happen every year, and that loss of limbs from infection is becoming common. He’d never known of either to occur on a regular basis, locally. Vibrio Vulnificus, AKA flesh eating bacteria, is pervasive in the warm coastal waters all across the country. If you have been in the warm coastal waters, you have come in contact with it. It may have even entered your blood stream. Most people who come in contact with it fight it off without ever knowing the got it. Those at greatest risk are those who are immunocompromised and those who drink heavily.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 50,169
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 50,169 |
Lol....They're full of [bleep]. Everybody is looking for a free buck.
The only thing worse than a liberal is a liberal that thinks they're a conservative.
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,688
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,688 |
Glad ya'll had an enjoyable trip. The beaches out that way are what Gulf Shores / Orange Beach looked like B.C. (before concrete). We lived on Ft. Morgan Rd. for a while when I was a kid. I learned how to shoot Dove on the north side before there was a Bird Sanctuary or golf course. I still fish on both sides, and yes, the flounder are hard to come by.
The Vibrio gets a lot of attention these days. I don't know if it's more prevalent or what. Maybe they didn't know what is was back in the day? I know an older commercial fisherman who recently contracted it. He's been fishing the same waters his whole life. When I was growing up we never heard of it. The old timers would tell us the saltwater will cure what ails you. Cuts, scratches, bruises, sore muscles, etc. I work in and around the water on occasion and open wounds happen. Not to mention my fishing habit. Scary stuff indeed.
Last edited by Bama_Rick; 02/04/20.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593 |
This couple must be tree huggers, they’re FOS. From my point of view the deepwater horizon oil spill did almost nothing. As Paul Barnard said, the Bonnet Carre spillway dumping freshwater from the Mississippi River into the sound did a lot more damage. That pretty much killed my fishing last year We’ve met a lot of people here from various areas and backgrounds. And we’ve heard a wide variety of opinions on everything from politics, to the environment, to best seafood restaurants, and to the Subaru we drove down here. Guessing that the couple that we met Sunday were just like a lot of folk who look at their local circumstance and assume that it mirrors the world around them. BTW... Was proud to be one of several red ball caps in the resort lobby tonight during SOTU
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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