NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office and Anglo-Suisse Offshore Partners are working together to clean up oil that has made landfall in the Grand Isle area.

The Coast Guard notified Anglo-Suisse, yesterday, that preliminary sample results suggest a possible match between samples taken from the shores of Elmer Island and those taken from the West Delta 117, which is an Anglo-Suisse owned well.

Further testing is ongoing.

Anglo-Suisse has agreed to cooperate with the Coast Guard and aid in the clean up response pending any contradictory results from the sample testing.

“We do not believe the spill along the coast is the result of our operations, however, when the Coast Guard informed us that this might be the case, the responsible thing to do was mobilize,” said John Sherwood, CEO of Anglo-Suisse.

Currently, an estimated one-quarter to one-half mile of shoreline, in all areas combined, has been affected by patches of oil.

The Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Scientific Support Coordinator confirmed there was no oil at or in the vicinity of West Delta 117 site. The overflight searched east of Grand Isle to the eastern end of Timbalier Island and 12 miles offshore, still finding no oil.

Assets currently being used in the clean up and recovery operations include:

• Approximately 8,400 feet of containment boom has been deployed to prevent damage to environmentally sensitive areas;
• Four MARKO Skimmers are currently underway;
• Ten barge boats;
• Four drum skimmers.

“We welcome Anglo-Suisse to the Unified Command and applaud their desire to ensure assets and resources are allocated appropriately as the response efforts continue in and around the Grand Isle area,” said Capt. Jonathan Burton, FOSC for the response.

Other assisting and cooperating agencies currently engaged in the clean up and recovery operations include:

• Department of Public Safety;
• Grand Isle Fire Department;
• Louisiana National Guard;
• U.S. Wildlife and Fisheries.

Both the Coast Guard and Anglo-Suisse are investigating the cause of the incident.
 

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received the first notification at 9:34 a.m., reporting a three-mile-long rainbow sheen in the Gulf of Mexico. Two more reports followed, the last one reporting a sheen that extended from six miles off the coast of Grand Isle to 100 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.

An overflight conducted by a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crew was able to confirm there was a substance on the surface of the water, but was unable to complete the aerial survey due to being diverted for a search and rescue case.

The Coast Guard has activated its Gulf Strike Team as well as diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Pompano to the scene in order to continue assessing the situation. Another MH-65C helicopter and crew is being launched from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans to continue the aerial survey. Additionally, an HC-144A Ocean Sentry and crew along with a marine science expert have been deployed from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Ala., to confirm and assess the situation.

The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund has been opened.

The incident is under investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available.
 

Missing is Josiah Victor Hoffman, 52.

Watchstanders at the Eighth Coast Guard District command center received an overdue vessel report from Hoffman’s wife at approximately 12:45 p.m., Monday, reporting that her husband did not return to port when expected. Hoffman is overdue from a sailing trip that departed from Houston on Jan. 3, 2011, en route to Ocean Springs.

Hoffman’s sailing vessel is called the Long Last. It is 32-feet long and is white with blue trim.

Watchstanders are working to logistically break down the search area to make it more manageable for Coast Guard assets to search.

An Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) has been issued for mariners to keep a sharp look out in the area.

Anyone with information about the missing person should call the Coast Guard command center at 504-589-6225.

Posted: 04 Dec 2010 06:02 PM PST

 

USCG File Photo

NEW ORLEANS— The Coast Guard medevaced four people, Saturday, after their plane went down 170 miles south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Rescued were Gary Intravia, from Mandeville, La., Kelly McHugh, from Madisonville, La., Ken Ross and Greg Drude, from Hammond, La.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard District Eight Command Center received a report at approximately 2:20 p.m., from the Federal Aviation Administration stating that a Malibu P46 aircraft with four people aboard had to conduct a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico. An MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, the Coast Guard Cutter Pompano, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Gulfport, Miss., and a HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft and crew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Ala., were all deployed to the scene.

The crew of the West Sirius, a mobile offshore drilling unit in the vicinity of the crash, deployed a fast response boat and was able to recover all four people alive from a life raft and transported them back to the West Sirius where they were given an initial evaluation by the MODU’s medical staff. The Coast Guard’s MH-65C landed on the West Sirius and is taking the four people to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., for further evaluation.

“Training and preparation potentially saved their lives,” said Lt. Cliff Beard, search and rescue coordinator at District Eight’s Command Center. “They had the presence of mind to prepare their life raft and don their life jackets prior to the water landing. They also communicated pertinent information such as their location, how many of them there were and what color their life raft was.”

There are no reports of serious injury.

 
The Gulf of Mexico recreational greater amberjack harvest is not likely to exceed the 2010 allocation of 1,243,184 pounds whole weight by the end of the year. The recreational fishing season will remain open through the end of the 2010. Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack are managed under regulations and quotas established by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council and the NOAA Fisheries Service. Regulations implementing Amendment 30A to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan established, in part, annual catch limits and accountability measures for greater amberjack, modified the rebuilding plan, and set commercial and recreational quotas. The recreational quota for 2010 was reduced from 1,368,000 to 1,243,184 pounds whole weight to account for a nine percent quota overage in 2009.

An analysis completed on October 15, 2010, for the Projected 2010 Quota Closure Date for the Gulf of Mexico Recreational Greater Amberjack considers Marine Recreational Fisheries Survey and Statistics (MRFSS) landings estimates through Wave 4 (e.g., August 30) as well as headboat landings estimates through July 23, and available information regarding the short-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill upon recreational greater amberjack. The updated projections indicate that landings are unlikely to exceed the 2010 adjusted quota prior to the end of the recreational fishing year.

A greater amberjack update stock assessment is scheduled to be completed early in 2011 and will provide the information necessary to determine if overfishing is still occurring in the greater amberjack fishery. 
 

Coast Guard assists vessel taking on water near Rigolets Pass

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report from the Orleans Parish 911 Center at approximately 1 p.m., that a 16-foot silver bass boat with two people on board had called by cell phone to report that their vessel was taking on water.

The Coast Guard launched an MH-65C helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and a 25-foot response boat (RB-S) and crew from Coast Guard Station New Orleans.

The MH-65C helicopter and crew located the vessel with both people on board and vectored the response boat to the scene. The vessel in distress was taking on water, but pumps on board were able to keep up with the ingress of water. The response boat escorted the vessel back to Rigolets Marina without further incident.

Ensuring boats are outfitted with functioning VHF-FM marine-band radios is important because it reduces the amount of time it takes get help on scene. In addition, marine-band radios allow watchstanders to use direction-finding equipment such as Rescue 21, and cell phones have limited battery life and gaps in coverage while on the water.

“The vessel in distress was operating in an area with limited cell phone coverage,” said Paul Barnard, operations unit controller, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. “Calling out in distress on VHF-FM Channel 16 would have put them in direct contact with the Coast Guard.”

October 1, 2010. The re-opening is effective each weekend, from 12:01 a.m., local time, Fridays, through 12:01 a.m., local time, Mondays. The fishing season will close for the remainder of 2010 at 12:01 a.m., local time, November 22, 2010. The intent of this action is to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the recreational red snapper quota, and enhance the social and economic benefits to the fishery. Federal Register will be resolved in favor of the Federal Register.

During the weekend open periods, the bag and possession limit for recreational red snapper is two fish per person. However, no red snapper may be retained by the captain and crew of a vessel operating as a charter vessel or headboat. Retained fish must be a minimum of 16 inches total length.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the information regarding this rulemaking. Any discrepancies between this bulletin and the regulations published in the

NOAA Fisheries Service announces the re-opening of the recreational red snapper fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on a recommendation by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, the recreational red snapper fishing season will be opened for eight consecutive weekends (Friday through Sunday), beginning