http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Technology\/oyster-population-plummets-louisiana\/story?id14404214<\/p>\n
By CHRISTINA CARON (@cdcaron)
\nAug. 29, 2011<\/p>\n
Today, on the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and
\nMississippi are battling a sharp decline in the oyster population,
\nwhich may not recover until 2013 now that a two-year influx of fresh
\nwater has killed off millions of the mollusks.<\/p>\n
After the BP oil spill in 2010, water was diverted out of the
\nMississippi River to keep the oil away from coastal wetlands. In the
\nprocess, freshwater flooded into oyster hatcheries, disrupting the
\ndelicate saline balance required for oysters to survive. When saline
\nlevels get too low, algae die, eliminating the oyster’s food supply.<\/p>\n
And if it weren’t already enough that the Gulf Coast had been hammered
\nby the largest oil spill in U.S. history as well as record drought,
\noyster farmers got hit again in May after rain and snowmelt had caused
\nthe Mississippi River to rise higher than it had in 70 years.<\/p>\n
The Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway, located
\nwest of New Orleans, to divert rising Mississippi River floodwaters
\nfrom the city. Soon after, they also opened the Morganza spillway,
\ndiverting water away from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and adding
\neven more fresh water to oyster grounds.<\/p>\n
“This year we’ll produce about 50 percent of our traditional in-shell
\noysters,” said Mike Voisin, CEO of Motivatit Seafoods, which typically
\nproduces about 20 million pounds of in-shell oysters.<\/p>\n
During a typical oyster season, which starts in September in Louisiana,
\nVoisin said the state produces a third of the nation’s oysters. But
\nthis year, he estimates the number will decline from an average of 250
\nmillion pounds to about 125 million pounds.<\/p>\n
Next year, he expects the number of oysters produced to decline even
\nfurther, to 87.5 million pounds, and the price of oysters to rise.<\/p>\n
Oyster Population Declines in Louisiana, Mississippi<\/p>\n
The 2010 water diversion was successful in preventing Louisiana’s
\ncoastline from becoming contaminated, Voisin said.<\/p>\n
“We have 7,500 miles of coastline around Louisiana and only had 400
\nmiles that were oiled.”<\/p>\n
But the impact that diversion had on the oysters will likely last until
\n2013, possibly longer.<\/p>\n
Voisin, who also serves as chairman of the Gulf Seafood Marketing
\nCoalition, says oyster producers east of the Mississippi River are now
\nalso investigating a mysterious substance growing on the shells oyster
\nlarvae attach to (commonly referred to as “cultch”). He believes it’s
\ndue to the lack of harvesting in the area after the BP oil spill.<\/p>\n
An oyster mortality study conducted in August of 2010 and published
\nthis year found an estimated 77 percent of the oysters in the Breton
\nSound basin off the Louisiana coast died.<\/p>\n
In Mississippi, the oyster population had huge losses, especially in
\nthe western Mississippi Sound, which houses most of the commercial
\nreefs.<\/p>\n
“From our preliminary assessment it’s pretty severe,” said Scott
\nGordon, shellfish bureau director at the Mississippi Department of
\nMarine Resources. “There’s no denying the freshwater flooding did have
\nan impact on the oysters.”<\/p>\n
Mississippi’s restoration efforts will eventually make an impact, he
\nsaid, but probably not for another 18 to 24 months, the time it takes
\nfor oysters to grow. Currently water salinities are back to normal, and
\nthe state will continue cultivating cultch plants, providing oyster
\nshells or limestone for the oyster larvae to attach, using $3 million
\nin restoration funding.<\/p>\n
In Louisiana, however, water salinity continues to be a problem.<\/p>\n
Alligator farmer Stephen Sagrera, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries
\nCommission chairman, said the oyster population has been “severely
\nhurt” by the extra freshwater, and the 7-member commission will take up
\nthe issue Thursday when it sets dates for the upcoming oyster season.<\/p>\n
“We just have to get the right salinity in the waters,” he said,
\nacknowledging, “That’s up to mother nature.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Richard Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Technology\/oyster-population-plummets-louisiana\/story?id14404214 By CHRISTINA CARON (@cdcaron) Aug. 29, 2011 Today, on the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and Mississippi are battling a sharp decline in the oyster population, which may not recover until 2013 now that a two-year influx of fresh water has killed off millions of the mollusks. After the BP oil spill in … Continue reading abcnews: Oyster Population Plummets in Louisiana After BP Spill, Floods<\/span>