15-43-CWS | June 17, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources voted unanimously Tuesday to reduce the weight of oyster dredges from 140 pounds to 115 pounds.   Commissioners said there is less chance the lighter dredges will damage oyster reefs.   The group voted to delay a decision possibly prohibiting basket

15-44-MMS| June 17, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – Marine Patrol officers with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources helped execute a federal search warrant on a Bay St. Louis man early Wednesday morning.   Lonnie Ray, 46, owner and operator of Cowart’s Seafood, was found to be in violation of the Lacey Act, a federal law

15-42-MMS| June 16, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is closing shrimping waters north of the Intracoastal Waterway in Mississippi territorial waters at 6 a.m. Thursday, June 18, 2015.   This temporary closing will be in effect until MDMR sampling determines the shrimp count has reached the legal requirement of 68

15-41-CWS | June 15, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – The state Commission on Marine Resources will meet Tuesday, June 16, in Biloxi. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and will be held at the Bolton State Building in the first-floor auditorium. An agenda is attached. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and

15-40-CWS | June 9, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – Summer is here, and it’s time to bring out the grills.   Learn how to cook seafood on the grill with this month’s Adventure Quencher, “Barbecue with Benefits: Cooking Healthy Seafood Outdoors.”   Former food editor Jim Matthews of Pass Christian will demonstrate how to prepare and

15-38-CWS | June 3, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – More than 300 boats filled the Mississippi Sound before sunrise Wednesday, as shrimpers waited for 6 a.m. to lower their trawls into the water and begin this year’s shrimp season.   “The opening day of shrimp season is something our scientists prepare for all year,” said Jamie

15-37-CWS | May 28, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has set the opening date of the 2015-2016 shrimp season in state territorial waters for 6 a.m. Wednesday, June 3. All regulations of the MDMR will be in full force and effect, and all boats engaged in catching or transporting shrimp

15-36-CWS | May 26, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – The body of 16-year-old Omar Gonzalez was found Wednesday morning by a charter boat captain.   The captain discovered the body at 10 a.m., about 1.5 miles from the area where Gonzalez and a 17-year-old friend were searching for crabs Sunday during a trip to Ship Island.

15-35-CWS | May 26, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – Marine Patrol officers issued eight citations over the Memorial Day weekend, all of them boat-and-water safety violations, including one for boating under the influence.   From Saturday morning through midnight Monday, officers checked 141 vessels and 615 people. In addition to the eight citations, officers issued 19

15-25-CWS | April 23, 2015 BILOXI, Miss. – MDMR Executive Director Jamie Miller announced Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Bill Feidt will be leaving the agency effective May 31.   Feidt is resigning from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources to take a position as senior vice president for a communications company.   “Bill has