The Gulf of Mexico oyster supply will be limited this season in Louisiana and Mississippi Sound, where freshwater has reduced the salinity of the ocean water. However, national demand has not picked up to pre-BP oil spill levels, keeping prices steady.
Gulf oyster prices range from USD 30 to USD 35 per sack (a bushel and a half) at the dock.
“We are hearing initial reports from oyster leaseholders that there are mortalities occurring on the oyster reef,” said Joe Jewell, assistant director, Office of Marine Fisheries, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The freshwater incursion stems from the opening of floodgates in late May intended to divert Mississippi River flooding from residential and commercial areas.
“The Gulfport ship channel, which divides the Mississippi Sound from east to west, has a salinity level of four, when it is usually in the mid-to upper teens,” said Jewell, whose researchers are currently surveying oyster reefs to determine the extent of oyster die-off.
“The Mississippi Sound is getting the largest impact, since it is getting the downflow from Lake Ponchartrain,” says a Louisiana oyster supplier. However, leaseholders there are also seeing some oyster mortalities — and expect more as the season progresses.
“Generally speaking, there is a shortage. In the next few months, we will lose another 50 percent [of where we were before the oil spill],” said one Gulf oyster supplier.
Another supplier said Louisiana supplies are plentiful so far this season. “We have only one harvest area that has remained closed since the spillways were opened. We are cautiously optimistic and hopeful that it may not be as bad as anticipated,” said the supplier.
“Sales outside of Louisiana are still off pretty significantly, compared to what they were,” said one supplier. “We are about 70 percent [of sales] of where we were before the oil spill,” said another supplier.
