Redfish and Specks Benefit from Limited Weir Closings

[capt coonassty]

Originally Posted by dmtfish

Someone educate me here... Since when do oysters die in high salinities? Are the oysters in BL different from other gulf oysters?? The best oysters I have eaten came from old project areas where we collected data and the salinity was 25 ppt +. Its been my experience that high temps and low salinities are the cause for poor oyster production

"Crassostrea virginica appears to have a higher tolerance of salinity fluctuation than other oyster species (Berquist et al. 2006). The optimal salinity for growth and reproduction is 10 - 28 ppt (Wilson et al. 2005). Larvae will not settle and metamorphose into spat when salinity is less than 6 ppt (Wilson et al. 2005). Adult C. virginica can live in salinities up to 35 ppt (Buroker 1983)".

But one of the problems with higher salinity waters is predation. When salinity is higher oyster drills become more numerous and predation rates are higher.