Posted on May 14, 2025
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — Fishermen are sounding the alarm on the dredging methods used in Mobile Bay.
Several fishermen said they can already feel the negative effects of it. And with these setbacks, it is directly impacting their livelihood.
Video captured from an ALEA chopper showed continued dredging methods in Mobile Bay. The black sludge in the video from the boat is going back into the water, which is what many fishermen said makes it extremely difficult to catch seafood.
Bayou La Batre Mayor Henry Barnes has been very vocal about this issue as he agreed it harms local fishermen.
“This is going to hurt crabbers, commercial net fishermen,” Barnes said. “This is just a bad thing, and I can’t believe our government is allowing this to happen.”
This is part of the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ plan to deepen and widen the Mobile Harbor Channel.
Barnes believes the issue isn’t necessarily the dredging, but the method the Corps is using.
“Well, they’re widening the channel and deepening it for the container ships, for the Port of Mobile,” he explained. “And we’re not against, you know, economic development, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things.”
Fisherman Patric Garmeson of Ugly Fishing, LLC, said that after seeing how the dredging is done, the condition of the water is only going to worsen.
“What we’re concerned about is taking the dredge material, taking it out of the bottom of the channel, and then spraying it and blowing it back out into the bay,” Garmeson explained. “It’s not healthy for Mobile Bay, so it’s time to do something different.”
Alabama State Senator Chris Elliott captured video from an ALEA chopper Tuesday morning after receiving several complaints from his constituents, so he took a look for himself.
“I mean, there is no way you look at those videos and say, okay, for the environment,” Elliott explained. “I mean, I’m a big fan of the port. I’m a big fan of the economic development machine that the port is, and I am very supportive of them, but there’s a better way to do this, and this isn’t it.”
WKRG News 5 reached out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A Corps spokesperson provided a statement explaining that their method of in-bay placement is backed by research and helps restore the bay’s natural sediment balance, and without it, the ecosystem suffers from shoreline erosion and habitat loss:
We are aware that outside groups have put out misinformation about the harm of thin-layer placement and the effects it has on the Mobile system. The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program developed a sediment budget for Mobile Bay the same time, we conducted a year-long study on the Bay. The Sediment Dynamics in Mobile Bay, Alabama: Development of an Operation Sediment Budget documented the Mobile Bay system did not have a balanced sediment budget. More material was being removed from the Bay by dredging operations than what was being put into the Bay by the natural system.
This study recommended that in-Bay placement of dredged material would be the most natural solution to the un-balanced sediment budget.
Thin layer placement is a widely accepted best practice by the environmental and dredging industries. It re-introduces sediment to the natural sediment transport system instead of removing it. Thin layer placement in Mobile Bay was specifically studied by collecting data during and after an emergency placement operation. This data was used to develop and calibrate models that predict how the sediment behaves in Mobile Bay. These model results were shared with environmental and resource agencies for review and consultation as part of the NEPA process. The study along with the complete project details can be found at https://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Program-and-Project-Management/Civil-Projects/Mobile-Harbor-Project/
Additionally, we are excited to announce the upcoming completion of the Mobile channel widening and deepening in June. This decade-long project will have provided the port and the State of Alabama a lasting economic impact for the region as well as many beneficial uses, such as strengthening the Dauphin Island Causeway and the Deer River Coastal Marsh.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Barnes said he isn’t buying it.
“What they’re doing is devastating to our oyster industry, our crab industry, our commercial fishermen. I mean, all around us, it’s hurting things,” Barnes explained. “It’s not helping at all.”
Mobile Baykeeper is holding a community meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. to discuss concerns about the dredging project at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church on 9101 Dauphin Island Parkway in Theodore.
