by: Julie Rosenzweig, Chapter Director
The Sierra Club Delta Chapter and several other environmental groups filed public comments objecting to a proposed rule allowing the commercial production of a non-native fish species in Louisiana before a public hearing held today by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Last October, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted to modify rules and regulations to add the sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus) to Louisiana’s “Domesticated Aquatic Organism” list, which would allow sterlet sturgeon in Louisiana for aquaculture purposes including processing for meat and caviar. The sterlet sturgeon is not native to Louisiana or North America.
In November, the Louisiana House of Representative Natural Resources Committee stepped in by holding a rare rule-making oversight meeting, the first of its kind in 20 years. The committee sent a letter expressing unease with the proposed rule, citing “concerns about the impacts of an accidental release of a non-native species of fish into the habitat of Louisiana’s native sturgeon.”
“There have been too many instances where non-native species have been introduced into a biome and serious damage to the native species has resulted,” wrote Representative Stuart Bishop, Chairman of the Louisiana House of Representative Natural Resources Committee, writing for the committee. “Examples include the zebra mussel, the reticulated python, and the Asian carp. The negative impacts of each of these non-native species are broad-based and well-known.”
“We are very concerned about the proposed introduction of non-native species of fish to Louisiana,” wrote Haywood “Woody” Martin, Sierra Club Delta Chapter Executive Committee Chair. “Given the numerous examples of escape of non-native species into the Louisiana natural environmental we must register our objection to introduction of the starlet sturgeon. We suspect that such introduction could constitute a serious threat to Louisiana native species including gulf sturgeon, which is federally listed as a threatened species, freshwater shovelnose sturgeon, and pallid sturgeon, which is federally listed as an endangered species and found in the Mississippi, Atchafalaya and Red Rivers.”
Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF), representing 25 affiliate organizations comprising more then 7,200 members, noted in public comments its opposition to the introduction of the sterlet sturgeon in Louisiana “where it can 1) endanger Louisiana’s native sturgeon species through hybridization and competition and 2) join the list of non-native, invasive species thriving in Louisiana’s wild natural habitat causing ecosystem imbalance and needing public funding for control or eradication methods.”
“Sterlet sturgeon is a small species of sturgeon native to areas of Europe and Asia [and] is banned in Canada,” wrote Rebecca Triche, LWF Executive Director. “The endangered pallid sturgeon [which is native to Louisiana] is known to co-occur and hybridize with smaller and more abundant shovelnose sturgeon. If the sterlet sturgeon were to escape or be illegally introduced to the wild, it could have a negative effect on native populations.”
Citing the risk posed by unintentional releases of the sterlet sturgeon into the wild of Louisiana, “it only takes one release in a 1,000 year flood event or other unusual act of nature ... [or] one employee taking home or releasing some of this species for it to become part of Louisiana’s natural landscape,” Triche noted.
“We are in agreement with Louisiana Wildlife Federation’s conclusion that there are too many examples of negative outcomes when introducing a non-native species for us to be assured that the benefits of introducing sterlet sturgeon for commercial aquaculture outweighs the potential costs to Louisiana’s natural resources,” Martin concluded.
You can express your opinion on the “Notice of Intent: Modify rules and regulations for approved Domestic Aquatic Organisms to include sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus) by writing or emailing:
Mr. Robert Bourgeois
Office of Fisheries
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
P.O. Box 98000
Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000
rbourgeois@wlf.la.gov