As per the news report, net accident spills large quantity of dead fish in the Mississippi Sound last week. The skimmer boats were out in the Mississippi Sound collecting what was left of about 400,000 dead fish that spilled from menhaden boats. It is reported that the spill of these dead fish occurred on Monday 13 July while boats from Omega Protein Company were fishing for menhaden, also called pogy fish, about three miles out in the Sound.
State marine officials informed that the spills occurred in areas south of Long Beach and Waveland. Ben Landry, Omega Protein spokesman, told that the boats’ nets apparently snagged on debris under the water and tore open, dumping the fish. It is informed that Omega Protein has a processing facility in Moss Point where menhaden is processed into fish meal and oil products used in pet foods and agricultural products.
Landry in his statement said that occasional spills are unfortunately a part of commercial fishing operations but this kind of spills indicates they were likely caused by contact with debris still remaining in the water from storms. Walter ‘‘Tiny’’ Chataginer, DMR’s chief of law enforcement, said no citations will be issued but Omega Protein is responsible for the entire cleanup, including on beaches. Chataginer said the cleanup could take several days.
According to Chataginer the spill was no different from a shrimp boat throwing bycatch over the side of the boat. Buck Buchanan, a DMR fisheries biologist, said the fish were between 8 and 10 inches long. He added that based on spot evidence, they were large fish. They have been told it was two boats with 200,000 pogies each.
