According to the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association, there were 79,450 canoes sold in the United States during 2011, the most recent period for which complete sales figures are available.
During the same time frame, 234,800 kayaks were sold.
A crew from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries out of Opelousas stocks hatchery-raised Florida-strain fingerlings in Bayou Teche at Magnolia Park and other spots.
Some 14,000 little fish were placed in the bayou, according to fisheries biologist Jody David.
Adults of a certain age, not just here but all up and down Bayou Teche, remember summers when the bayou was their playground. In it they fished, they puttered around in small boats, and they even swam.
With the Crawfish, the Acadian, the Hot Sauce, Sugar and Oil & Gas now comes the Black Bear.
A new “short” race has been added to Tour du Teche for its fifth running this October.
The Black Bear leg begins at New Iberia’s City Park at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, and ends at Franklin, 35 miles down Bayou Teche.
Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville concluded their spring football drills last week while Cecilia wrapped up its work last night (Tuesday) with a scrimmage in Crowley.