LSU professor James Cowan Jr., a fisheries ecologist, said he was both amused and frustrated by the debate over the Caernarvon diversion “because it certainly wasn’t designed to be a restoration tool. It’s doing what it’s supposed to do (freshening water along the coast to increase the growth of oysters), but it’s not a good… Read More
But what anglers can’t see through the clouds of red snapper under their boats are gaping holes in the health report of the stocks, according to Louisiana State University fisheries professor James Cowan.
“We still are seeing sick fish, but the incidence of gaping sores has gone down,” Louisiana State University oceanographer Jim Cowan said last week. “We are seeing a high number of fish that have discolored areas on the body … where the scales easily slough off when the fish are handled. We have continued to… Read More
For decades, those leading the life-and-death struggle to keep southeast Louisiana from being swallowed by the Gulf of Mexico have had a battle cry: “Put the river back into the marsh.” The thinking is that the river should be allowed to build new land, just as it had done for millennia before flooding was controlled.
The cost of coastal restoration is more than just the price of building a restoration project, and the benefits include more than just providing some new wildlife habitat. That was part of the message at a Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy conference here this week focusing on the science behind the social and… Read More
Looking for a feminist hero? Try state Sen. Nina Turner, D-Ohio. A year ago this week, Turner introduced a bill designed, she insisted, to protect men from the dangers of erectile dysfunction drugs. Had the bill passed, it would have ordered potential Viagra users to seek medical advice about potential side effects. A psychological screening would… Read More
The free Louisiana Resiliency Assistance Program, or LRAP, run by the LSU College of Art & Design’s Coastal Sustainability Studio, or CSS, has launched a website, www.resiliency.lsu.edu, which provides village, town, city and parish governments with a profusion of informational resources, access to professional experts, a platform for networking between jurisdictions and a webinar and workshop series, “Planning… Read More
“It is a little darker in color than a piece of modern cypress, but if I didn’t tell you that it was over 50,000 years old, you wouldn’t know it,” said Kristine DeLong, the Louisiana State University researcher who prepared and sent the AL.com samples for analysis. “I showed it to some of the other… Read More
Students with LSU’s College of Music & Dramatic Arts and Music therapist Mary Malloy say sharing their music gift is a unique medicine. “We visited one little boy who was down. When we handed him a drum, his attitude changed almost immediately. He was smiling and he wanted us to play another song,” says Jessic… Read More
Mosquitos by the droves. Polluted coastal waters. Increased storm surge vulnerability. Loss of habitat for crabs, shellfish and vast numbers of beautiful bird species including sparrows and rails [1]. These are just some of the potential consequences of loss of salt marshes around the country, many of which are now listed as “habitats of concern.”[2]
