  Creel surveys were performed over a three week period in late spring, 2011,
in the Lafourche and Calcasieu area estuaries of the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Weights and lengths were measured for black drum (Pogonias cromis), red drum
(Sciaenops ocellatus), and spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and relative
condition factors were calculated relative to expected weights from the long
term (5 year) Louisiana data for each species. A normal relative condition
factor is 1.00. The mean relative condition factors in the Lafourche area were
black drum, 0.955 (0.020); red drum, 0.955 (0.011); spotted seatrout, 0.994
(0.009). In the Calcasieu area, the mean relative condition factors were black
drum, 0.934 (0.017); red drum, 0.965 (0.014); spotted seatrout, 0.971 (0.010).
Uncertainties are in parentheses. Results suggest that the abundance of primary
food sources for black drum and red drum in Lafourche, including oysters and
crab, were likely affected by the oil spill and continued to be reduced one
year later. Increased harvest of oysters and blue crab in the Calcasieu area
(in part to make up for the ban in most of Louisiana) resulted in less food for
the black drum and red drum there, also. Spotted seatrout eat mainly shrimp and
small fish and showed no significant reduction in relative condition factor in
Lafourche and a slight reduction in Calcasieu one year after the oil spill.
