Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) Use of the Ship/Trinity/Tiger Shoal Complex as a Nationally Important Spawning/Hatching/Foraging Ground: Discovery, Evaluation, and Sand Mining Recommendations Based on Blue Crab, Shrimp, and Spotted Setrout Findings

摘要

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is addressing the recent demand for long-term use of U.S. continental shelf sand resources for coastal erosion management, a critical challenge to Louisianas ecosystems and economies (e.g., USDOI, MMS 2008). Louisiana considers barrier island restoration as a promising way to combat wetland loss with sand mined from Ship Shoal, located off the central Louisiana coast, as the most feasible sediment source. Additional resources on the nearby Trinity and Tiger Shoals are also being considered.