Letters

Thanks for the look ahead

To the editor:

Just want to commend you on (Kevin Lee’s) great article titled, “Mobile’s Long Economic Road May Soon Get Smoother,” in the May 9th-22nd issue of Lagniappe. My husband and I like it so much that we are going to send copies to our two sons-in-law (one is a Ph.D in History – both of them love Mobile but they don’t live here).

Estela Dorn

Executive Director

Mobile International Festival

Thanks for the Sea Lab support

To the editor:

Thank you on behalf of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation to Kevin Lee for his outstanding article about David Doubilet, and to Lagniappe, and to the many businesses and individuals who supported the foundation’s signature fund-raising event for 2007, “Cocktails With the Critters” held at Five Rivers May 3, 2007 and ” Water Planet” held at Spring Hill College May 4, 2007.

David Doubilet, an international award-winning National Geographic photographer-in-residence and arguably one of the world’s best underwater photographers, came as the guest of the DISL Foundation. Mr. Doubilet supports fledgling groups whose mission is conservation and wise stewardship of the planet’s waters and the animals that live in them. In order to give back, each year he contributes his time to a selected group.

We are fortunate that this year he agreed to travel to our coast as the special guest of the DISL Foundation.

Mr. Doubilet held an audience made up of students and their families spellbound in his presentation “Water Planet,” a photographic journey beneath the ocean’s surface. His presentation featured 160 photographs from expeditions across the seas of Africa and the Pacific Ocean.

In March 2002 the DISL Foundation was established to assist in developing new resources that ensure the future long-term growth of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. In that year the foundation was invited to participate in the Kresge Foundation’s Challenge Grant to provide community capital for young non-profit organizations. For each $3 raised, Kresge donated $1 to the foundations participating. This was the impetus for an endowment set aside and managed by the Community Foundation to benefit the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

With the help of many people in the community, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation is now poised to realize the goals they set for the foundation, to provide a stable future base of funding through a dedicated endowment for the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. For that, we say thank you to all of you who realized it is a worthy goal, and put your support behind our efforts.

Freda Roberts

Executive Director

Another gill net haul

To the editor:

There have been several letters and stories about the proposed ban to stop commercial fishing using gill nets. Some have been talking about science and methodology, while others speak of abuse and destruction of fish species. Yet, the fact remains that the Alabama Department of Conservation and the National Marine Fisheries agree that the fish stocks are doing well. Are both of these agencies wrong?

There was mention of a study done in Texas. However, no one can explain it because there was no explanation of the methodology used to show how the study was done. By the way, wasn’t the Texas study funded by the CCA? The CCA is a group of sports fishermen who are pushing for the ban of commercial fishing using gill nets. Yet, this group doesn’t want to include themselves in any bans, restrictions, or limits.

Yes, the gill nets entangle or gill the fish that are targeted. This is the method that has worked for thousands of years at catching certain fish. Many fish are excluded. The nets do not kill everything they touch. The net fishermen know how to remove a by catch fish without any more damage to them than say a hook in the fish’s mouth.

There have been statements made about the handling of mullet after they are caught (i.e. gutted and thrown in the floor). I can attest to the fact that there may have been some in the floor, but for the most part, they were iced in large vats to be taken for processing elsewhere. Some mullet were used for crab bait, which I personally purchased. Some were donated to charities for fund-raisers.

I might add that those used for human consumption were handled properly. I have been told that some were sent to Ethiopia as a food supplement for the under-nourished. Did you know that fish is an excellent source of Omega-3, which is good for the heart? It has also been shown that fish oil can aid in the prevention of Alzheimer’s, as well as a host of other health problems. Anyone who asked for it was given fish to eat. Fresh mullet is very tasty, especially smoked mullet.

If the gill netters are put out of business, there will be a shortage of poagies for the crabbers. Gill netters catch menhaden (poagies). Remember this….No gill nets/no crab bait….No crab bait/no crabs….No crabs/no crabmeat….... Do you like to eat crabmeat?

I own a crab shop. Some of you have purchased crabmeat from me. I will be adversely affected if a gill net ban is passed. Since crabbers will be forced to find crab bait elsewhere and pay more for it, the prices of our crabmeat will go up. And guess what? Many of the sports fishermen who despise gill nets use poagies caught by commercial gill netters.

The proposed bill (HB112) includes gill nets and other entangling nets, which could mean shrimp trawls. This could put more than a just a few fishermen out of work. Many fish markets will be forced to buy their fish, crabmeat, or shrimp from foreign countries, such as China and Venezuela.

Have you heard about the concerns with China’s food additives? Alabama’s Department of Agriculture recently banned imported catfish because of dangerous additives…. wheat gluten, chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, fluoroquinolones and malachite green, to name a few. These dangerous additives are used in shrimp, crab, and fish. And who in this country wants to buy food from Hugo Chavez, who adamantly speaks against the United States? Is this what your representative wants for you? If he/she votes in favor of a gill net ban, that’s what you’ll get.

Do you really favor the idea of supporting seafood industries in foreign countries rather than our own seafood industry? Commercial fishing is what Mobile was built around. Mobile’s history is fading! We can keep it alive. Help stop the gill net ban. Call your representative. Tell him/her that how you feel. The House of Representatives General Information phone number is (334)242-7600. You can find out who your representative is on the web by going to

http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/house.html. Or you may call Commissioner Lawley’s office at (334) 242-3486. Remember ….no gill nets/no crab bait….no crab bait/no crabs…....

Patricia Zirlott

Zirlott’s Gulf Products

Fowl River, Alabama

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