Updates

5/22/22

The Gulf Coast Live Bait Association was recently featured in an article by the "Voice of the Gulf", The Gulf Seafood Foundation. Check out the article on their Newsroom website linked below.

Louisiana's Live Bait Industry Under Duress After Four Hurricanes In Two Years

5/6/22

The GCLBA has been working directly with the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition post Hurricane Ida as a liaison to the Live Bait Industry. After surveying roughly 40 sites we have compiled enough data to conclude that close to 80% of the bait shops have been either severely damaged or wiped out. As a part of the coalition we have been helping craft a document outlining the needs of our local fisheries and together a White Paper has been formed. This document will be used to lobby for recovery dollars to address everything from pulling debris from water ways, fuel subsidies, and because of us and our working together, money for replacing lost or damaged live bait holding equipment as well as money for upgrading our infrastructure towards hardening and portability of equipment for evacuation,

Listed below are the Recovery Coalition's White Paper as well as a supporting document we crafted outlining the costs of bait specific infrastructure investments.

LFCRC White Paper

GCLBA Live Bait Infrastructure Investment doc

LFCRC Hurricane Impacts Needs Assessment - White Paper - Update.pdf

Live Bait Infrastructure Investment - Gu

LINK TO SURVEY

11/10/21

If you have a live bait holding operation in Louisiana and you have been affected by Ida or any other hurricane in 2020 and 2021, please take the time to fill out this survey. It’s completely anonymous and critical that we understand the true costs of these storms so that we may have hard data to back us up when we ask for relief money from Washington. We’ve been working hand in hand with LSU Ag, Louisiana Seagrant, and as a member of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition to make sure the live bait industry has not been overlooked or left in a dysfunctional grey area this time around and we need YOUR support.

This survey will ask for location data so that it can show connection between storm path and damage impact, but it is still anonymous and will not be used to identify you