Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet said Monday they are eyeing state-owned property near the Interstate 210 loop to build a new field office for the Lake Charles region.
Montoucet made the comments following a meeting Monday to hear concerns from regional department staff. The current field office, at 1213 North Lakeshore Drive, is outdated and in need of repair, he said. Montoucet said the property, owned by the city of Lake Charles, has limited space that doesn’t meet the needs of wildlife and fisheries staff.
“We want a facility where we can put all of our equipment and people in one location,” Montoucet said. “We have enforcement and equipment scattered all over the place.”
Montoucet said the project is expected to cost an estimated $8 million. He said the department has secured some federal money that could be used to build an educational facility next to the field office.
He said the department has applied for state capital outlay dollars to fund the project. It would take about a year to build and get opened.
Montoucet said the Legislature needs to find a “consistent funding source” to avoid mid-year cuts. He said these cuts allow the governor to take 5 percent from statutory dedications. Montoucet said that cost the department $4.2 million last year, along with another $380,000 from the Artificial Reef Trust Fund this year.
Public concerns
Eddie LeJuine, a longtime commercial fisherman from Hackberry, said his biggest concern is the 30-day statewide shutdown of commercial crabbing, a decision made Feb. 20 to address a shortage of crabs.
“My life depends on using crabs,” he said. “If there’s no crabs, I don’t fish. When they shut the month season down, it also shut me down for a month.”
Patrick Banks, assistant wildlife and fisheries secretary, said there were concerns about the short oyster season that lasted roughly four months. A typical oyster season lasts seven months or longer.
“We had a depressed oyster resource in Calcasieu Lake this year,” Banks said. “It has been going down over the last eight years. We’re seeing a lot of saltwater intrusion ... so harvest is the biggest tool to limit the amount of animals that die in the lake.”
LeJuine said there are plenty of oysters in Sabine Lake that aren’t open to commercial harvesting. He said the saltwater intrusion in Big Lake has killed off “95 percent” of oyster reefs.
“I feel like there will be an opening (of Sabine) at one point,” LeJuine said.
LeJuine said an abundance of redfish are eating baby crabs. Redfish have been banned from commercial harvest since the late 1980s. LeJuine’s wife, Michelle, said opening up redfish to commercial fishing during the crabbing shutdown would have softened the shutdown’s impact.
“It helps the whole ecosystem,” she said. “When it’s overpopulated, you’ve got to depopulate to a degree.”
Lake Charles was the fifth stop on Montoucet’s statewide tour to hear concerns from staff and state lawmakers from Southwest Louisiana.
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