Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieFoxtrot
Any talk of reseeding to at least make an attempt at habitat rebuilding and conservation?
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The ideal would be to reseed the west side and close it to harvest for several years until oysters are re-established. But the political reality is that Calcasieu was opened to dredging in 2005 or so and a number of businesses invested heavily in equipment. Nearby areas (Sabine and the east side) are closed for very sound reasons, so closing the west side is not politically viable. It is too bad that closing most of LA oyster waters in 2010 caused such focussed pressure on the east side that 90% of Louisiana market oysters that year came from Calcasieu. The system is in slow recovery. See the attached graph that was prepared by a colleague using LDFW survey data.
A legitimate concern is that reseeding the west side would bring additional harvest pressure that would make the reseeding a net loss. Better to let natural reseeding from remaining west side oysters and from drift fro the east side and from Sabine contribute. This will yield less localized oyster bars that are not so easily located and destroyed. In the meantime, one hopes that local oystering infrastructure will be largely dismantled and that ongoing local pressure will be more commensurate with naturally occurring supply. Reseeding just keeps the local harvest pressure up and begins to engender an entitlement mentality as if the government has taken the ability to earn a living away from people if the cycle of seeding and raping is not maintained.
Plans to build a saltwater barrier at Calcasieu pass make seeding and conservation of oysters in the estuary a temporary proposition at best.