/A Flood of Catastrophe How a warming climate and the Bonnet Carré Spillway threaten the survival of Coast fishermen

A Flood of Catastrophe How a warming climate and the Bonnet Carré Spillway threaten the survival of Coast fishermen

PASS CHRISTIAN — Roscoe Liebig, a bait salesman, looked around the harbor’s empty piers on a sunny September morning. He shook his head in dismay. Liebig thought back to his normal surroundings, which included a full parking lot and fishermen fishing for their bait. There were also oysters visible at low tide. All of that was gone on that day. He would be selling his shrimp and croakers (a type of bait fish) to fishermen passing by every year. He said, “This is a disaster.” Liebig referred to another historical disaster and said that BP could have blown up a well. He believes 2019 will be better. It’s a dying industry and this is just icing on top.” Liebig, who sits on a barge in Mississippi Sound’s Mississippi Sound, becomes restless as he examines his finances. He is worried that even small repairs or upgrades to his boat will cause a drop in sales. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today The core of his stress are the recent openings at Bonnet Carre Spillway. This is an increasing frequent event that shakes the sound’s water quality, and kills aquatic species that fishermen rely on for their survival. The national phenomenon of climate change affecting America’s most powerful river is the reason for Mississippi’s fishermen’s woes. The Mississippi River basin, which covers 40% of the U.S. continental, runs from Montana to New York, and funnels water into Gulf of Mexico. It also picks up nutrients from farmers and other pollutants along its route. The U.S. had its wettest 12 months from July 2018 to June 2019, the third consecutive year of this record. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened in Louisiana last May by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to relieve river pressure and prevent flooding in New Orleans. The spillway is located south of Lake Pontchartrain and diverts water into the Mississippi Sound. The spillway, which is located just south of Lake Pontchartrain, diverts water from the river into the Mississippi Sound. It was open for 123 days last year. This is almost twice as long than any other opening. The freshwater influx caused a dramatic shift in the sound’s salinity, causing severe damage to resident species. The oysters almost died, while the crabs and shrimp escaped to safer waters. The water also provided nutrients that nourished a growing blue-green algae. According to the state marine resource director, customers stopped buying local seafood because they were afraid of getting sick. It was a disaster for fishermen and seafood traders who depend on their catch. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today Liebig started shrimping around 15 years ago and is, unlike many in the industry, the only fisherman from his family. When market shifts made it impossible to shrimp full-time, he started his own bait shop. Liebig stated that his 25 cent croakers are usually the most affordable around. However, when supplies plummeted and he needed to find croakers somewhere else — a four hour boat ride each direction — his monthly fuel expenditures increased by $1,000 and he was forced into raising his prices to twice the amount. He estimates that his earnings for the year, which began with shrimp season in May, fell by 80 percent. In an interview last fall, he stated that “We basically make our living in May June July August.” You have four months to do it. The rest of the time you can scrape by with a little money. Next year, I will start over. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today I’m stubborn. For fishermen, stubbornness is essential for survival. Carey Cannette, a Biloxi shrimper described it as “You have a great year and then a bad one, good year and bad year, good years, bad year, etc.” It’s one of those things that you just can’t give up on. It’s so important that you are so invested that you can’t let go. Many wonder how long their businesses will survive. The spillway openings last year came after a series of disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in 2010. These disasters only allowed for a limited window of recovery. These disruptions are clearly connected to a changing climate, which is bringing more rain and storms. Although the links between climate change and extreme weather events and fossil fuels have been well documented, spillway openings provide a rare glimpse at the relationship between climate and federal policy decisions and their effects on local communities. Bonnet Carre Spillway was completed in 1931 and only eight times were opened in the first 70 years. In comparison, the Mississippi River’s high water volume has resulted in seven openings in the past 12 year, with four of those occurring in the last three. One researcher believes that there are many factors that contribute to the increased frequency of spillway usage. However, none is more important than the increase in greenhouse gases and temperatures. Omar Abdul-Aziz is a West Virginia University professor of civil and environmental engineering. He has studied the effects of climate change on flooding in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Alex Rozier Carbon traps heat in the atmosphere, making it thinner and more water-repellent. This results in more snow, especially in the Upper Midwest. Combining this with higher rainfall, it results in historic levels of water gushing into Mississippi River. Warmer ocean temperatures are causing more frequent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Abdul-Aziz believes that climate change is at a stage in its history where it can be foreshadowed by recent years. “How many times could a year such as 2019 occur?” He said, “A year like 2019 could occur at most once in the next five to ten years.” After working all night, Deckhand Eldon Kruse couldn’t keep his eyes open as he finished his shift on Liebig’s barge. Kruse stated that despite working over 80 hours per week, he needed to come up with a payment plan to avoid his home being foreclosed. After making almost four times as much in the past year, Kruse had not yet earned $7,000 in six months. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today Kruse, 36 years old, said that it hurts. He lives 45 minutes from Saucier with his wife, and their three children. Kruse, who is a construction worker in the offseasons and hopes that federal fisheries disaster funds will arrive sooner than 2011 when such a declaration was made. After similar spillway damage, the $11 million that the federal government gave Mississippi in 2015 didn’t arrive until 2015. Although the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources was responsible for the funds, it hired fishermen using those funds. Many felt that they should have received direct payments. Bethany Atkinson Congress allocated $165 million last year for fishery disasters, which will be divided between seven states, including Mississippi. Joe Spraggins, director of state-resources, assured that the money would arrive faster than it did last year and that direct payments will be made to fishermen. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association still has to decide how the money will be split. The Mississippi Sound Coalition and Mississippi’s Secretary of State have filed lawsuits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi River Commission, and other federal courts over the spillway’s operation. This is due to legislation that was passed over 90 years ago. The lawsuit filed by Delbert Hosemann, then-Secretary to State, regarding the spillway’s use states that “this is not only illegal but it is also inexcusable.” “This freshwater inundation will not just upset the delicate ecological balance in the (Mississippi Sound), but also cause serious economic damage for the people and businesses that depend on the Sound.” The United States authorized flood-control projects along the Mississippi River, including the Bonnet Carre. The spillway was not used for the remainder of the century. However, Mississippi felt its effects each time. In 1945, after the state lost most of its oyster population, federal aid was provided. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today Robert Wiygul is an environmental lawyer for the Mississippi Sound Coalition. He said that the federal government must change its approach to the spillway, as the river has changed over time. Wiygul stated that “things have changed dramatically since 1976,” when the last environmental study on the spillway was done. We know that the Mississippi River’s river bed has increased, and the water flows faster than it did years ago. There has been more development downstream, there have been increased nutrient loads in river, and there’s been increased precipitation. Hosemann’s lawsuit asks the Corps to open Morganza Spillway. This would allow river water to flow into southern Louisiana. But unlike the Bonnet Carre’s Bonnet Carre, the Morganza would flood thousands of acres of farmland and hundreds of structures. Read Hendon is the associate director of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. He said, “We are dealing with 21st Century issues with engineering from 20th century.” It wasn’t designed to solve the current problems. Morganza is a flood zone. Here, it’s not a problem. But, you are threatening the wildlife and affecting our coastal ecosystem. It doesn’t have the immediate human impact.” The Corps of Engineers opened Bonnet Carre on April 3. This was a new record. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today It’s not clear how many years Mississippi’s Gulf Coast fisheries will be able to sustain without the spillway’s operation being modified. Two of the largest seafood businesses on the Coast are two examples. Kendall Marquar, who owns Waveland’s Pinchers, which is the state’s largest crab processor said that his annual earnings are about a third more than what he earns in a good year. He said that “This winter’s likely to be the most difficult we’ve ever seen with crabs.” Crystal Seas Oysters’ manager Jennifer Jenkins stated that their total business had dropped 55 percent over 2018, making them the state’s largest oyster processor. She said, “I don’t want to flood New Orleans.” “But at the moment, the oyster industry… I have never seen it worse. It has not been worse since Katrina or after an oil spillage. It’d be worse if you added them all.” Fishermen who have inherited generations of their family’s fishing business find it difficult to imagine doing anything else. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today Mark Kopszywa is a fourth-generation fisherman, hailing from Ocean Springs. He started at age four making toy boats, and earned a penny per piece fixing shrimping nets. Kopszywa, a descendant of Polish immigrants dropped out of highschool at age 15 to work full-time in shrimping. He jokes that he hasn’t learned much more over the 30 years he’s been in the business. He explained that once you have done it for as long as it has been done, it is hard to do any other. We know there is a chance that I will be able to hit a lick next week if I go out. In one lick, I can make more than you or I did in two months. These licks are getting further apart.” Kopszywa has had to learn, as have many others in the industry. Kopszywa, who ended 2019 with the smallest haul of his career in shrimp, fixes other shrimpers’ nets to make ends meet, a skill that he says is rare these days. He usually hauls between 50,000 and 60,000 pounds of shrimp each year, but he ended last season with just 15,000 pounds. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today Because he cannot afford to hire reliable deckhands for his 60-foot, double-rigged shrimpboat, Kopszywa operates it all by himself. Kopszywa enjoys the freedom of being his own boss, despite the financial stress and numerous injuries he has sustained over the years (two missing toes; crab bites; and a staph infection). Kopszywa (48), was named 2019’s Shrimp King. This title is given each year to a different member of the Coast’s seafood sector. The Shrimp King’s names are inscribed on a monument at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum, Biloxi. This monument is a symbol of his family’s legacy that he will pass on to his sons and future generations. “No matter what happens in their lives now, their daddy’s name will be on that wall over here, so they always have Biloxi history because of it.” He knows it is a fantasy to see his children following tradition. Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today The industry has just become so difficult. He said that it was difficult to see a bright future. Abdul-Aziz, a West Virginia professor explained that greenhouse gas emissions will continue to heat the earth’s atmosphere for decades because of their long half-lives. Although mitigation measures like building green spaces and adopting renewable energy sources will help future generations, they won’t reverse the damage. He said, “Whatever happened, we cannot do anything about it.” “Whatever has happened, we can’t do much about it,” he said.