Mississippi Has an Oyster Problem

Mississippi has a wealthy historical past within the oyster trade, however that trade seems to be getting ready to collapse. A narrative in ProPublica particulars the steep decline during the last 20 years or so, mentioning that the variety of firms licensed to course of oysters within the state has dropped from 13 in 2004 to 3 in 2022. And it isn’t due to consolidation—the reason being way more fundamental. “If you do not have oysters, you’ll be able to’t promote them” is how Jennifer Jenkins, supervisor of Crystal Seas Seafood, places it. The variety of oysters within the Mississippi Sound has plunged because of a slew of things, beginning with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, adopted by an enormous BP oil spill 5 years later. One other main issue that might not be as apparent is also at play: federal protocols to stop flooding.

For instance, the Military Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway in 2011 for greater than 40 days to ease Mississippi River flooding. The massive quantity of freshwater launched into the Sound diminished its salinity and killed an estimated 85% of its oysters. The state, in the meantime, has spent tens of millions making an attempt to rebuild oyster reefs, unsuccessfully. One $10 million undertaking concerned spraying a limestone combination at 12 websites in 2013, however as much as 90% of the combination sank uselessly into the mud. A 2021 follow-up examine discovered zero grownup oysters on the dozen websites. The story by Anita Lee particulars all the above and suggests a part of the answer is likely to be opening up extra of the Sound to personal leaseholders—oyster fishermen—to allow them to handle it as a substitute of slow-moving authorities entities. Usually talking, that has labored in neighboring Louisiana. Learn the total story. (Or take a look at different notable longform tales.)