A plus for education and research

• By JOE MACALUSO
• Advocate Outdoors writer
• Published: Jul 5, 2009 - Page: 12C

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GRAND ISLE — The smiles on the faces of a dozen Department of Wildlife and Fisheries marine biologists were easy to see last week.

They looked like kids with pockets filled with coins and turned loose in a candy story.

“This is a big day for them, a big day for us and a big day for the state,” LDWF assistant secretary Randy Pausina said shortly after state and local officials cut the ribbon on the $23 million Fisheries Research Lab.

Pausina said the project was 10 years in the making and survived through four hurricanes that swept over, around and through Grand Isle since 2005.

The modern facility replaces the aging Lyle St. Amant Biological Lab on Grand Terre Isle, an uninhabited island to the east of Grand Isle.

The new 35,000 square-foot complex dwarfs the old 12,000 square-foot lab, and it’s located on the state’s only inhabitated barrier island.

“Not only can we do much more intensive research on marine species, but because it’s accessible by road, we also will have the ability to make it an education center,” Pausina said. “We can bring in schools and other groups to show them what marine resources mean to our state.”

The new lab sits on 30 acres of Grand Isle Port Commission land and overlooks Barataria Bay.
It’s at the end of Ludwig Lane behind the Grand Isle City Hall and the island’s Catholic church.

During Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremonies, LDWF secretary Robert Barham said the lab “will help Louisiana maintain its dominance and prestige as one of the greatest seafood producers in the world.”

Pausina said the new facility will help the state further studies of oysters, crabs, shrimp and finfish.

While most of the study at the St. Amant lab was pointed towards commercial species, Pausina said, the new lab will incorporate recreational fisheries into its plans.

“We recognize the importance of a healthy recreational fishing industry,” Pausina said.
Atop that list is the continued study of speckled trout.

Equally as important was the structure’s durability and survivability.