AMANDA McCOY/SUN HERALD Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus answers questions from reporters following a meeting with Gulf Coast mayors at the Coast Convention Center on Wednesday.

BILOXI — U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told South Mississippi officials Wednesday the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill would be a Gulf Coast plan, not one dictated from Washington.

Mabus, the former Mississippi governor President Obama appointed to oversee Gulf Coast restoration, talked Wednesday with about 50 state and local officials in a meeting closed to the press, briefing them on his new role. After the meeting Mabus said the president charged him with the task of developing the long-range restoration plan and he'll focus on allowing officials along the Gulf Coast to shape it.

"Any plan that is going to work is going to have to come from the Coast up to Washington, not vice versa," Mabus said.

In the meantime, weather halted skimming operations as more oil hit Mississippi beaches. Mabus said his main job is to decide what is supposed to happen years out and his plan will include specifics about dealing with the economic issues, mental health and other issues.

He said he'll hand off the plan to local officials once it's complete, rather than execute it himself. There's a lot at stake over the next few years, he said. "This is a national issue," Mabus said. "The nation needs the Gulf Coast to be healthy."

Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott, who has been angry over bureaucracy related to the oil-spill response, said he was glad to learn local officials can now get official answers from a person in Biloxi, rather than someone with the Unified Command in Mobile. He believes this will shorten the response time to requests for protection measures.

"When you call (Mobile) you never can communicate," McDermott said. "You can't even get a name."

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor answered many of the questions about the immediate response, officials attending the meeting said. Taylor said he relayed his concerns about frustrations with the response, including the lack of skimmers, companies responding using outdated technology and other issues. The congressman is also worried about a new issue. Taylor said he saw a tar mat the size of a manhole cover coming up from below the surface inside the Mississippi Sound on a boat tour Tuesday. More tar mats arose from the same spot not long after. He said he wouldn't have believed the tar mats existed a week ago, but after seeing them, he said federal officials must adjust.

"We're going to get thrown a curve every now and then," Taylor said. "We have got to change our plan accordingly." Taylor believes the tar mats should be attacked far offshore, because when they break up they become a sheen. One option would be a large butterfly net–like contraption to capture those, he said. The odd occurrence Taylor described is the latest in a continuous series of oil-spill challenges, but Taylor said he believes Mabus won't take a short-sighted approach to restoration plans.

"The good news is (Mabus) is very much aware that there are going to be long-term effects to be dealt with, that it is not just going to be oil on the beach today," Taylor said. "(Mabus knows) it is not just going to be this year's shrimp, this year's oyster crop."

Weather doesn't help

High waves from Hurricane Alex and a frontal system have shut down skimming and burning operations and the use of chemical dispersants at the Deepwater Horizon site.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said in a conference call Wednesday the high waves also dislodged booms, which will be replaced once the weather calms. That could be today or Friday, he said.

Another area of low pressure is developing in the Gulf, and although it's not a tropical storm, he said it could keep seas above the 4-foot level.

"Obviously we will be monitoring the weather on a daily basis," Zukunft said.

Hurricane Alex also changed the wind direction that was taking the oil toward Panama City.

"That same oil mass is starting to shift more to the west" toward Mississippi, he said. Zukunft said he's especially concerned with oil heading from the well site toward Chandeleur Sound. Until the high waves subside, he said they can't attack and remove the oil.

The weather also has delayed the connection of the Helix Procher, the third containment ship, which will be used to capture 25,000 barrels of oil a day at the Deepwater horizon site. Zukunft said they hope to have it operating around July 7, weather permitting.

The weather hasn't had any effect on the equipment drilling two relief wells that are needed to cap the spewing oil. "These routinely operate in seas of 10 to 15 feet."

He said 80 skimmers were added in the last week in the four Gulf states affected by the oil, and BP now has more than 41,000 people working on the oil spill.

• BP workers turned out en masse early Wednesday all along the Coast. They worked to finish cleaning Pascagoula's beaches and the Jackson County beaches along East and West Belle Fountaine Road south of St. Andrews.

• All oil-containment boom gates in the Bay of St. Louis, except for the main ship channel at the center of the CSX Railroad Bridge, were closed.

Emergency Manager Brian Adam advised boaters to enter and exit the area with extreme caution.

• Long Beach closed its harbor to recreational fishing boats Wednesday after tar balls were discovered Tuesday night on the east side of the rocks along the harbor, Alderman Gary Ponthieux said.

The harbor remained available for boats in the Vessels of Opportunity program.

"There were quite a few big globs of oil coming in and the wind was so strong, it was pushing the oil up into the rocks and the waves were pounding it in," Ponthieux said. "The crews were out there trying to work, but we had 3- and 4-foot waves and there was nothing they could do."

Ponthieux said between 15 and 20 bags of debris and oil were picked up at the harbor before the rain forced workers inside.

• In Washington, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker reported the award of a $5 million federal grant to Mississippi to provide employment assistance for workers laid off because of the oil spill. The National Emergency Grant was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor to allow Mississippi to provide employment-related assistance to workers who lose their jobs as a result of the oil spill.

The Labor Department indicated about 300 workers in Mississippi are projected to be affected by the ongoing crisis in the Gulf.

• The DEQ, the DMR and the Mississippi State Department of Health extended the beach advisory in Harrison County from Market Street in Pass Christian east to Azalea Avenue in Biloxi. This area had significant amounts tar mats and tar patties on the beach.

• DEQ and DMR executive directors also closed an additional portion of Mississippi's territorial marine waters, effective Wednesday, to all commercial and recreational fishing, including all species of finfish, crabs, shrimp and oysters.
  
• The Courthouse Road boat launch closed Wednesday until further notice because of oil-related concerns, Gulfport spokesman Ryan LaFontaine said.

Staff writers Mary Perez, Kate Magandy, Donna Melton and Karen Nelson contributed to this report.