Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck Butter
No one is denying the benefits of oysters, they are extremely important as you have pointed out. But oysters are not a magic bullet, nor do they decrease hypoxia to a noticable extent. They will shut down in hypoxic conditions. They can't just uproot and move away from the conditions, so they shut down, therefore no more filtration.
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Chesapeake Bay is a much different system than Calcasieu. The water stays in the bay for much longer, and most of the bay is too deep to support oyster reefs. Further, the oysters are in the estuary, whereas, most of the hypoxia is in the Gulf of Mexico.
No one is suggesting that oysters offer complete control or are a magic bullet. The question is whether algae blooms and hypoxia go down when oyster populations go up, and if so, by how much?
Certainly, maintaining a balanced ecosystem requires more than oyster reef restoration. But if oyster reef restoration could reduce the average hypoxia in the near shore Gulf off of Cameron Parish by 50%, wouldn't this be an interesting and relevant finding?
Isn't it worth analyzing the existing data to explore the potential?