RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
SCR 56 2020 Regular Session Hewitt
Requests the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries continue to work together to:
(1)Develop a Louisiana Oyster Management and Rehabilitation Strategic Plan that will
guide the Louisiana public oyster resource and oyster industry to a more productive
future and provide a path for recovery and maintenance of Louisiana's oyster
resources, for promotion and maintenance of a thriving oyster resource and industry
in Louisiana, and for assistance with industry sustainability and development, while
reducing conflicts in the coastal zone.
(2)Develop initiatives to be utilized to rehabilitate, where practicable, the productivity
of the public oyster areas in Louisiana, assist the oyster industry in evolving to a
changing coast, and address competing uses for coastal water bottoms while also
fully implementing the coastal master plan to eliminate the catastrophic rate of
coastal land loss, as a high-priority public policy of the state.
(3)Identify funding sources to implement programs and projects to promote and
maintain a thriving oyster resource and industry in Louisiana and also maintain a
balance with other coastal uses and needs in order to allow for the most efficient
utilization of coastal areas.
(4)Prioritize, sequence, and select restoration projects to benefit the coastal and oyster
resources, including developing additional information on restoration approaches and
techniques, potential project concepts, and monitoring needs, including but not
limited to the following projects and programs: (a) cultch planting, (b)
hatchery-raised oyster planting, (c) private oyster lease rehabilitation (POLR)
program, and (d) off-bottom oyster aquaculture.
(5)Study actual and potential impacts to oysters and the oyster industry in Louisiana
resulting from natural processes, coastal erosion, implementation of integrated
coastal protection projects, and other outside competing interests, in order to develop
strategies to address such impacts and identify options that could be viable in
assisting the oyster industry response to a changing coast.
(6)Develop overall strategies to promote and maintain the sustainability of a thriving
Louisiana oyster resource and industry while also balancing the needs of the state of
Louisiana to reduce, if not eliminate, the catastrophic rate of coastal land loss, as a
high-priority public policy of the state.
(7)Coordinate all such efforts, planning, programs, and projects with oyster resource and
industry stakeholders, including the Oyster Task Force.
(8)Finalize a Louisiana Oyster Management and Rehabilitation Strategic Plan by
December 2020 and deliver copies of the final Strategic Plan to the Senate president,
the House speaker, the Senate Natural Resources Committee, the House Natural
Resources and Environment Committee, the Coastal Protection and Restoration
Board, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, and the Oyster Task Force.