Oystering in Louisiana and Recent Effects of Hurricane Katrina

摘要

The tragic event of Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005 to coastal and inland areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida has clearly impacted their fishing industries. Soon after Katrina passed Hurricane Rita hit causing severe damage to western Louisiana and eastern Texas. The combined effects of the hurricanes resulted in the flooding of the entire coast of Louisiana. Needless to say, the impact to the people and help needed to recover from their losses and rebuild their infrastructure are on-going concerns, and all our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends, colleagues and all those affected by these storms. Contact was finally made with some of the people I know in the areas so important to the shellfish industry in the U.S. A short time ago I got briefings on eyewitness accounts of damages to these oyster growing regions.My principal discussion was with my friend and colleague Dr. Thomas M. Soniat of the Department of Biology at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Thibodaux is located southwest of New Orleans, between the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, near the areas which produce the enormous quantities of oysters that make Louisiana the largest oyster producing state in the nation.