Quote:
Originally Posted by wishin i was fishin
also as MG says hypoxia is a big issue. that will no doubt continue to plague us all of the Louisiana coast for a while.
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Hypoxia is a real issue, but it is not as big as some of the Chicken Little voices make it out to be.
Nutrient loading from the Mississippi River has actually caused a tremendous increase in Louisiana fishery production as a whole, but there is a real risk that increased nutrient loading could negatively impact the fishery in the future.
There is no compelling need to saddle farmers with increasing regulations regarding how and where they use their land and how much they fertilize. Allowing corn prices to be dominated by market forces without government subsidies or ethanol mandates will greatly reduce corn demand, thus the price, thus the acres planted and the use of expensive fertilizers.
This alone will likely be sufficient to stop conversion of prairie into cropland and maintain levels of nutrient loading that provide outstanding enhancements to Louisiana fishery productivity without the hypoxic zones growing to the size where the fishery suffers. Reducing nutrient loading too far (through government regulations) would actually decrease Louisiana fishery production.