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Abstracts
Workgroup: Aquaculture and Hatchery Issues
Caernarvon & Oyster Farmers: What Happened and What It Means
Principal Investigator(s):
Sharonne O'Shea, Louisiana State University Sea Grant Legal Program
Co-Investigator(s):
Erinn Neyrey, Joe F. Stevenson, James Wilkins, LSU Sea Grant Legal Program, sglegal@lsu.edu
Funding Period: 9-1-98 to 12-31-99
Legal disputes between the federal and state governments, who constructed and operated the Caernarvon freshwater diversion project, and oyster farmers whose, leased oyster beds were adversely affected by the project, were the topics of this research. The project's results were an unbiased, even handed legal analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the parties positions. The analysis revealed that attempts by the state to retroactively alter rights under leases that existed prior to 1995 would probably be deemed unconstitutional by Louisiana courts. The researchers also determined that the legislature has the authority to require that the state be indemnified from damage claims by oyster farmers resulting from coastal restoration projects in all future leases. The project further analyzed the Oyster Lease Relocation Program that the state established to head off damage claims from the Davis Pond diversion project.
IMPACTS and/or BENEFITS:
The two sides in these disputes, the state and federal governments on one side and oyster farmers on the other, have become very polarized and entrenched in their positions. The purpose of the study is to provide a non adversarial analysis that would be impossible to obtain from advocates of either side. We are hopeful that if the parties are more aware of their "real" positions they will be more likely to reach a fair compromise. There is some evidence of that from the fact that there were no lawsuits in the primary impact area of Davis Pond and from the fact that the state is now considering other means to address oyster lease problems. Our constituents trust the Sea Grant Legal Program to provide to be an unbiased source of legal information.
PROJECT PUBLICATIONS:
Joe F. Stevenson, Louisiana's Oyster Lease Relocation Program: A Step toward Common Ground, Southern University Law Review, Vol. 28 No. 1, 19-41, 2000
The Avenal Lawsuits, Louisiana Coastal Law, Vol. 77, October 2000
User's Guide to Louisiana's Oyster Lease Relocation Program (Brochure published by Louisiana Sea Grant and distributed to oyster farmers)
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