Coastal Master Plan hope for Vermilion Bay?

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by Smalls

I made this point in an old thread to someone I will not mention, lest he interject himself in this conversation. Tarpon live in freshwater ecosystems. They are not solely a saltwater species. They once occurred in Prien Lake--when it was a swamp! Go back over 7,000 years, the Bay was a former delta of the Mississippi. Heck, go back 2,500 years and it was. So for a long period of time, it was probably a low-salinity estuary, same as Calcasieu Lake. And I would imagine somewhere between 400 and 7,000 years ago is when the Atchafalaya River formed (probably between 400 and 2,500 years ago when the Lafourche Delta was the active delta).

Honestly, if nature took its course (or would be allowed to take its course), the Atchafalaya would be the new course of the Mississippi. The Old River Control Structure prevents that, but if it ever had a catastrophic failure, the Atchafalaya would most likely capture the majority of the Mississippi's flow.

All that being said, based on historical records, I doubt that Vermilion Bay was ever a high salinity system for a long period of time. For nearly 5,000 years it was part of the active delta, so at most it was probably Brackish.

I agree with you,but at one point and time it held saltier water for most of the year. For better or worse...