Menhaden ship captain cited for violating new fishing restrictions on Louisiana coast

The captain of a menhaden ship was cited for fishing within a restricted buffer zone off Terrebonne Parish near Vermillion Bay early this month, the first such citation under new rules.

According to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Michael J. Tapper, 47, of Moss Point, Miss. used his 154-foot “mother ship” to fish “well inside” a new buffer zone that restricts menhaden fishing within a quarter mile of the coast. Tapper’s alleged violation happened in early July. He was cited by wildlife agents on Wednesday.

The new restrictions, which went into effect last year, established even larger buffers around Elmer’s Island, Grand Isle and Grand Terre Island.

The citation is the first under the restrictions.  

The 154-foot ship is owned by Westbank Fishing, a company partly owned by Daybrook Fisheries, a South African company that operations a large menhaden processing plant in South Plaquemines Parish. 

“This was absolutely against company policy,” Westbank President Francois Kuttel said on Monday. “We do everything we can to make sure our vessels know where the (buffer) line is.”

Tapper will be fined up to $350 dollars. Wildlife agents determined that nearly 87,000 pounds of menhaden were caught in the buffer zone, potentially triggering civil restitution totaling more than $9,500.

Kuttel said Tapper has been suspended for two weeks without pay and will lose his Christmas bonus. 

Menhaden, also called pogy and fatback, are small fish that are caught in vast quantities off the Louisiana coast and then ground up for fertilizer, pig feed and dietary supplements.

By pound, menhaden are by far the state’s largest fishery, eclipsing Louisiana’s combined annual catch of shrimp, oysters, crab and crawfish.

Menhaden fishing operations, which involve mother ships, smaller support vessels and spotter airplanes, have come under fire for pollution, wasted catches and alleged harm to other fisheries, particularly recreational ones.