Abstract
Oysters in Mississippi Sound are important to the ecosystem and to the local economy, or they used to be. In the early 1900s, over 2 million pounds of oysters from Mississippi Sound were processed each year. From the year 2000 to 2013, the oyster harvest decreased from 1.5 million pounds to 0.5 million pounds. The harvest has decreased significantly each year since then. Recognizing their importance, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Restoration Plan considers “Restoring and protecting existing oyster reefs in Mississippi [is] critical to the ecological and economic sustainability of the region.” The plan focuses on increasing the density and acreage of oyster reefs in the Mississippi Sound. The Governor’s Oyster Council has set of goal of producing one million sacks of oysters from Mississippi Sound by 2025. To this end, tens of millions of dollars have been devoted to oyster research and especially restoration by the State of Mississippi using primarily federal funds. While over harvesting may have contributed to the decline, the influence of increasing amounts of freshwater in Mississippi Sound cannot be discounted. From 1937 to 2007 (70 years), the Bonne Carre Spillway was opened 8 times. Since 2007 (13 years), the spillway has been open 7 times, as recently as April 2020. Each time the spillway is open, fresh water diverted from the Mississippi River can flood Mississippi Sound potentially lowering the salinity to a level deleterious to oysters. Restoration efforts must consider whether oysters reefs can survive and whether restoration efforts will be effective considering how the current conditions of river water diversion differ from times when oyster harvests were abundant.
