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Looks like America’s original Interstate Highway is on the rage again. Expecting the Bonnet Carre Spillway structure to begin opening this Friday to bleed off a few gallons of water to the Lake Ponchartrain watershed.

And there goes the soft shelled crabs industry again this year.

Why are soft shelled crabs going?

The infusion of fresh water alters the salinity that they thrive in.

Regular recent openings have decimated the Mississippi Sound oyster fishery. I was hoping we would be able to avoid opening it this year,

Damn, I love soft shell crabs!

I love oysters.

That’s fact, Paul but Dragos is closed anyhow.

Probably have to get them from the Chesapeake area.

Man, a fried soft shell crab Po- Boy is to kill for, I’ll tell ya.

What a bunch of babies.



A little fresh water kills them?


They should harden up a bit.

Heh.

You should see that from the air when taking off or landing in New Orleans when the spillway is fully open and how massive it is.

And Bonnet Carre ain’t that large of a diversion compared to The Old River Lock structure located northward that bleeds 30% of the Mississippi River’s flow to the Atchafalaya River and Basin. That, too, is quite an aerial view.

Louisiana State Motto:

We’re either underwater or under Indictment.

You know you live in Louisiana when, from time to time, you have waterfront property.

No scchitt !

Many do, in fact.

I’m blessed on high ground.

My great grandfather grew up on the banks of the Ohio.


He was quite a swimmer according to my father.


He said he saw the Mississippi once. It was a mile across.




It was unreal according to him.

I for one am tired of the Bonne Care being opened. It screws up all of my fishing areas to the south east. This would be the 3 consecutive year and 4 of the last five I believe. Unpresidented. The oyster fishery is never going to recover from this much fresh water. Blue crabs can live in fresh water, but need the salt to molt properly.Speckled trout don't spawn in insure waters with the salinity levels so low. Sucks ass..

They should open the Atchafalaya, but that would bring way to much political angst. All the cow ranchers and giant homes in the spillway never have to make concessions. The politically connected always come out ahead.


Clyde

That plus washing away Morgan City and massive backwaters to the west side, Krotz Springs, Butte LaRose, etc.

Actually you can hammer the specs and reds where they congregate outside of fresh water with the brackish/saltwater being heavier.

And NO, I ain’t telling you where !

And a lot of other commercial fishing as well!

Fugg!

There goes this years fishing again.

That’s true and the Mississippi Gulf Coast gets hit pretty hard, too.

Last year the state of Mississippi wanted a bigger say at the table before the Bonnet Carre and other east side diversions were opened. The Corps of Engineers pretty well told them to go piss up a rope and that the Corp would make the how, when, where and how much decisions. In a sugar coated way, of course.

That’s a lot better than having to dynamite the east levees to relieve the stresses on the whole system.

I’m thinking Paul Barnard would probably have more accurate and up to date data on this. He’s pretty much down by the tip of the spear.

Do you guys have any idea how much area the Mississippi drains? Every sewer plant in every town, big or small drains in that rivers tributaries. It is probably half sewer effluent. Have any of you ever considered that? The same goes for Galveston bay. The Trinity and San Jacinto rivers drain into that bay. Dallas Fort Worth and Houston, plus thousands of other sewer plants dump in that bay.