Tag Archives: oyster beds
An oysterman’s new worry: Will state’s coastal plan wash out his business?
Terry Shelley has spent his entire working life as a commercial fisherman. Before he was a full-time oyster farmer and harvester, he spent the first part of his career harvesting shrimp and reef fish. He’s seen a lot, but not a pileup of challenges like now. Back in September, Hurricane Zeta rumbled over small-town Port Sulphur, Louisiana, where the family’s oyster farm and processing center are based. The Shelleys lost half their cages, and they only managed to retrieve about half of that. Already by then, the Coronavirus pandemic had temporarily halted the supply lines Shelley Farms uses to sell its oysters. Now, after losing most of his oyster crop last year, Mr. Shelley has another worry on his mind. Louisiana coastal planners are pushing a $2 billion project proposal designed to fight back against the trend of persistent coastal erosion. >click to read< 15:24
South Carolina: Crabs, other fish showing impact of flood
The onslaught of big crabs into the creeks feeding in the Charleston estuary is among the first indications biologists are getting of the effects of October’s historic flooding on marine life — a wash of water so large that the creeks only now are starting to fall to levels anywhere near what observers would call ebb tides and the offshore remains less salty than usual. Among other shellfish, oyster beds are again off-limits partly because of the flood, while the shrimp catch — so far — doesn’t seem to have been helped or hurt. Read the rest here 08:52
