Quote:
Originally Posted by LaAngler
i was talking to a inshore fisherman from galveston with a biology backround this past weekend, he told me the reefs needed to be broken up so that they won't die off, so it can be healthy to do SOME oystering on them.
i can't verify the facts on this.
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Oysters will grow on oysters, clams will grow on oysters, they will pile up, they might kill off the ones on the bottom, but others will grow.
Go to the West Fork in Cameron on a low tide, some call it oyster bayou but it ain't, and you will see lots of old reefs that haven't been harvested in more years than I was alive. They are in good shape, they just get taller. The old shells give the new ones a place to grow and protection for small fish and shrimp.
There is nothing wrong with harvesting oysters, but wiping them out in a few years is not good. The bad part about this is when they wipe them out and have to go back to tonging, who are they going to blame? Same with gill nets. Some commercial fisherman will catch the last fish/oyster/shrimp to make money, not thinking about where the next dollar will come from after they wipe out everything.
Some of the educated commerical fishermen know this, but there is nothing they or we can do if the LDWF let the dumb ones catch everything with any means available.
It has happened before, it will happen again. The people within the LDWF who witnessed this before are all gone. The new ones just see a lot of oyster reefs. They need to be educated, they will see soon.