waters are either buried in the seabed or are eventually 

 covered by the substrate (ocean floor material that supports 

 plant or animal life). Occasionally, before pipelines are 

 covered, or when they become uncovered by water current 

 action, trawlers face navigational hazards. Nets could 

 become caught and snagged on exposed lines. For the same 

 navigational reasons, trawling is not performed near oil 

 platforms. However, many people believe the pipelines do not 

 interfere with overall yields. Willingham et_al. (1974: 135) 

 concluded "offshore pipelines ... didn ' t appear to diminish 

 yields of aquatic organisms." Many shrimpers say the best 

 trawling areas are along underwater pipelines. Shrimp and 

 other smaller fishes hide from predators and feed in the abundant 

 growths of seaweed found on both sides of a pipeline 

 (LaPlace, 1976). 



The largest shrimp production areas are in Terrebonne 

 and Lafourche Parishes with Barataria and Caminada Bays 

 being the traditional center of brown shrimp production in 

 Louisiana (Dames and Moore, 1975; White, 1975). Only 

 slightly less important are Timbalier and Terrebonne Bays. 

 These are areas with much OCS activity. 



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