Tag Archives: Oyster Task Force
Massive, unexplained bivalve die-off sends many Louisiana oystermen back to square one
Mitch Jurisich, a third-generation oysterman, dropped a long pair of oyster tongs into the Gulf of Mexico and lightly raked the water bottom. When he brought up his catch, all but one were dead. The more resilient hooked mussels, typically found clustered along the area’s oyster reefs, had suffered the same fate. The stench of rotting bivalves filled the air. “That’s the smell of death,” Jurisich said. Early this month, millions of pounds of oysters in leases that line Plaquemines Parish’s west bank were found dead, their mouths agape. It’s unclear why. >click to read< 10:15
Louisiana fisheries, coastal agencies working on initial oyster recovery strategy
Oysters are such a mainstay of Louisiana cuisine,, But over the past two decades, the state’s legendary bivalves have been getting battered. In hopes of reversing those trends, the agencies that oversee Louisiana’s fisheries and its coastal restoration efforts are developing a long-term strategy to revive the state’s once-legendary and recently beleaguered oyster fishery. The initial price tag is estimated at $132 million,, The plan was presented to the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries’ Louisiana Oyster Task Force for an initial review on July 7, and was endorsed by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority eight days later. >click to read< 13:04
