Fishermen fighting for public access to the Atchafalaya Basin

“You cannot own a navigable waterway,” said Lafayette attorney Joseph ‘Buzzy” Joy after several slides showed NO TRESPASSING signs preventing fishermen from using some waterways in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Joy and Gordon Schoeffler, of Joseph Joy and Associates, spoke at the April 22 meeting of Basin fishermen held in the Belle River fire station.

The truck bay of the station was overflowing with fishermen and other interested parties as Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper director, gave a slide presentation showing numerous canals and bayous which had been blocked off from crawfishermen by dikes, levees, signs, and other preventative measures designed to benefit private landowners and keep out crawfishermen.

Jody Meche, a fisherman and Basinkeeper board member, told stories of his own experiences attempting to put out crawfish traps in navigable waterways. On one occasion Meche was subjected to rifle fire and in other instances threatened with physical harm if he persisted.

The Joy law firm handled that particular case, finding the property owner at fault.

“The state owns all bays, water bottoms and lakes,” said Meche, “not the property owners.”

Wilson said he has been offered as much as $300,000 a year if he stopped going after persons and companies who were blocking waterways.

“I’ve even received death threats,” said Wilson. He cited case after case of where property owners had received permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to build roads and have canals blocked illegally by falsifying information.

Joy and Schoeffler advised fishermen to keep their “cool” when confronted with a situation where they are stopped from using a waterway.

“Take your ticket if they give you one. Don’t get in a fight,” said the lawyers. “If you have a cell phone with a camera, take pictures. Don’t cause trouble. Just call us as soon as you can with any proof you have.”

Mike Bienvenu, president of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West (LCPAW) said, “We’re here to help you. We will represent you if you are faced with trespassing threats or your traps are confiscated or you’re told to pay a fine.”

Belle River resident Lee Hines spoke briefly about a local company trying to have a piece of the Belle River levee rezoned from residential to heavy industrial. He pointed out that if this company was successful, it would open doors to others.

“There are lots of wells in the basin which are not producing anything any more,” he said. “The owners of these wells might be very interested in accepting the effluent from the ‘fracking’ going on in Pennsylvania and New York.”

Wilson ended the meeting by urging fishermen to become a Basinkeeper member and to join the LCPAW.

To join the ABK contact basinkeeper@gmail.com, call (225) 685-9439, or join online at basinkeeper.org.