Off-limits: The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says the state’s oyster industry is suffering and as a result several harvesting areas will be off-limits, The Associated Press reports. Oyster season opened Wednesday in parts of Louisiana. However, a low oyster population is causing problems for oyster farmers. Factors contributing to the low resources include too much freshwater in the areas in which the oysters grow and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Harvesting areas south of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet are closed, including Little Lakes in Barataria Bay. Areas east of the Mississippi River, Bay Junop, Lake Mechant, the Vermilion Bay area and the Atchafalaya Bay area opened Wednesday.
Heading up: Louisiana gained eight offshore rigs this week, bringing the state’s total rig count to 43, according to the weekly tally by Houston-based oilfield service company Baker Hughes. Last week, the state had 35 active oil and gas rigs. Around this time last year, Louisiana had 73 rigs. The U.S. rig count also increased this week. There are 508 rigs actively exploring for oil and gas, 11 more than last week. A year ago at this time, there were 848 rigs.
Going down: First-time unemployment insurance claims in Louisiana for the week ending Sept. 3 decreased from the previous week’s total. The state labor department figures released today show the initial claims decreased to 3,067 from the previous week’s total of 4,679. For the comparable week a year ago, there were 2,417 claims filed. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, increased to 3,859 from the previous week’s average of 3,829. Continued unemployment insurance weeks claims for the week ending Sept. 3 climbed up to 28,146 from the previous week’s total of 26,987. The four-week moving average of continued weeks claimed increased to 27,103 from the previous week’s average of 26,966.
