A Mississippi judge has blocked a recently passed state law that would allow the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) to lease out oyster reefs to private companies, preserving public access to those reefs for the time being.
Local oystermen hailed the injunction, arguing that the state law would deprive them of access to reefs they have been able to harvest oysters from for generations.
“These oystermen, during the period of the injunction, at least, can continue to harvest oysters like their forefathers have done for 200 years,” attorney Gerald Blessey told local news outlet WLOX.
In 2024, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed into law a statute allowing the state to lease oyster reefs that have been historically open to the public to private companies and individuals, drawing outrage from many local oystermen. Later that year, MDMR revised its regulations to enable private leasing and launched an application process.
“The overall goal is to promote the prosperity of coastal communities and foster a thriving and sustainable shellfish industry in the state,” MDMR said of the changes. “One of the primary objectives of the updated regulations is to encourage private individuals or businesses to lease and develop water bottoms, thereby increasing oyster production in Mississippi.”
In May 2025, nonprofit Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United and roughly 20 commercial fishers sued the state over the law, claiming that they had a right to continue harvesting oysters from the areas MDMR planned to lease. According to the lawsuit, the state law allows DMR to lease out 80 percent of the state’s natural and historically public oyster reefs.
“Recently, the Mississippi Legislature adopted laws that violate plaintiffs’ ancient right to harvest oysters (right to fish) from natural reefs in the Mississippi Sound, guaranteed for centuries in the common law of the public trust for tidelands and submerged lands and beds of the sea, and recently enshrined in the Mississippi Constitution,” the group stated in its lawsuit.
The state’s plans have also drawn opposition from local governments.
On 21 August, the Biloxi City Council and the mayor passed a resolution expressing “strong and unequivocal opposition” to the state’s oyster reef leasing proposal.
“The City of Biloxi supports the preservation of public access to oyster reefs and affirms the rights of local oystermen to harvest, sell, and manage these resources through transparent, community-based, and environmentally responsible practices,” the resolution reads.
The council called on the state to suspend its plans until the completion of an independent economic and environmental impact assessment is completed, while demanding more opportunities for public engagement and protections for independent fishers.
The Pass Christian Board of Aldermen passed a similar resolution 8 August.
Now, a judge has granted a brief reprieve to commercial oystermen opposed to the state’s plan, implementing an injunction barring the state from issuing any private leases for the time being. The state has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
The court battle comes just as Mississippi’s oyster fishery has reemerged.
The state’s oyster stocks were devastated by the 2019 opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway to avert flooding, sending a surge of freshwater into the ocean that devastated coastal shellfish. It’s taken years for the population to recover, with state managers opening a brief season for the first time since the disaster in late 2024. The state has also invested in seeding initiatives and other projects to help local shellfish stocks recover.
State oystermen have struggled with the loss of business, although the federal government has issued financial assistance to commercial fishers and related businesses after determining that the spillway opening qualified as a fishery disaster. The state also sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to secure some protections against future openings of the spillway.
