Mississippi University Researchers Collaborate to Investigate Oyster Population in the Mississippi Gulf

March 5, 2020

A Video Story of How Four Mississippi Universities Collaborate to Research the Effect of Fresh Water Influx on Oyster Populations in the Mississippi Gulf.

Mississippi State University GRI researchers and marine operations specialists worked in conjunction with University of Mississippi researchers who were tasked by MBRACE mbrace.usm.edu/ to study impacts of the prolonged opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in 2011, 2018, and 2019.

The direct losses in natural oyster harvest associated with the prolonged Bonnet Carre Spillway opening are estimated to be between 80% and 100% and were a direct result of the devastating influx of flooding and freshwater into the Mississippi Sound.

The significant financial impact caused by the reduced access to public oyster reefs caused the statewide shutdown of oyster harvesting activities as well as associated processing and distribution activities.

This project was paid for in part with Federal funding through the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012, known as the RESTORE Act.

https://www.restorethegulf.gov/history/about-restore-act
https://www.wlox.com/2019/11/12/gov-bryant-outlines-latest-restore-act-projects/
https://www.nationalfisherman.com/gulf-south-atlantic/record-low-gulf-coast-supply-could-jolt-oyster-prices/

MBRACE is a consortium made up of Mississippi’s four major research institutions: Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, the University of Southern Mississippi, Jackson State University.