Oh I agree on the Channels, MG. Have that same issue in the Vermilion Bay area. There are a lot of oil and gas exploration canals in that area. We have some in this part of the world, but more around the Rockefeller Area.
However, I think you are spot on with attributing it to oyster reduction and not saltwater intrusion. The main species affected in the study were Black Drum and Gafftopsail Catfish, if I remember correctly. Those are two species you don't see often in the marshes, which are the main places you see the effect of saltwater intrusion, especially the east side marshes. That is why the wiers were constructed in the first place, because of the saltwater intrusion into that marsh, which degraded several tens of thousands of acres. That degradation of marsh actually did lead to an increase in shrimp and crab production, because these species feed on dying marsh. This is what led to the increased harvest numbers a lot of people here have referred to in the 80s and early 90s.
Would it be right to contribute the decreased body size of Trout and Red Drum to the wier management? Possibly, although I do not know the figures for how many days the wiers were opened or closed for the past decade, I do know there was some damage done to them during the storms that led to them remaining open for some time. Only this year did they return to the original operating plan outlined in the late 80s. So the jury is still out on that, in my opinion. You have to look at it from a Holistic management point of view. An estuary is much more than a marsh or a lake.
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