The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Office of Fisheries announced an extension to the deadline for Private Oyster Lease Rehabilitation (POLR) Cooperative Endeavor Agreements.
The POLR agreement deadline, which was originally slated to end on June 30, 2009, will be extended to Dec. 31, 2009, for all eligible applicants who complete necessary paperwork. This deadline extension will allow oyster leaseholders, who are currently participating in the POLR program, more time to complete rehabilitation work under the terms of their existing cooperative endeavor agreements.
The POLR program is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (grant #NA06NMF4540319) through the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (sub-award # OR-RRR-020-2006-01) as part of a $53 million federal fisheries rehabilitation appropriation.
The goal of the POLR cooperative endeavor agreement is to assist oyster leaseholders with the rehabilitation of Louisiana oyster resources impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. POLR participants qualify for reimbursement of portions of the costs associated with the rehabilitation of oyster resources on private oyster leases up to a qualified amount per leaseholder. Eligible leaseholders may participate in any or all of the following rehabilitation activities:
1) Sediment and debris removal;
2) Cultch deposition;
3) Remarking/resurveying;
4) Oyster relaying;
5) Oyster transplanting (bedding);
6) Replacement of lost/damaged lease records.
Amendments to the cooperative endeavor agreements will be mailed to all POLR participants who have a reimbursement fund balance. Those wishing to extend their POLR contract will be required to return a signed amendment to LDWF postmarked no later than June 8, 2009. It is the POLR participant’s responsibility to verify receipt by LDWF. For more information, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov.
