How has the mortality of eastern oysters in the Mississippi Sound changed over the past decade?
What factors have contributed to changes in eastern oyster mortality rates?
How do the rates of mortality seen in the Mississippi Sound compare to elsewhere in North America?

---

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an important marine organism that is an exceptional filter feeder, habitat builder, and is a major fishery species across North America. The Mississippi Sound--defined as the area between the Mississippi and Apalachicola Rivers--was once home to a booming and productive oyster fishery. However, over the past decade, this fishery has struggled to maintain productivity due to numerous factors, and there have been many years where the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has not allowed oyster harvest on reefs because of this low productivity. While many oyster reefs across North America are vulnerable because of overfishing, climate change, and disease, the reefs in the Mississippi Sound are uniquely threatened by excess freshwater inflow during years when the Bonnet Carré Spillway is opened to prevent flooding of New Orleans. 

My current work seeks to understand how environmental factors and freshwater inflow have affected oyster mortality across the Mississippi Sound. In this work, I am using field monitoring data collected over a nearly 20-year period and comparing the mortality rates in the Sound to those across reefs in North America. While the goal of this work is not to suggest management strategies, understanding the temporal patterns and causes of variation in the mortality of oysters may help inform future efforts seeking to protect the biodiversity and health of oyster reefs within the Sound.​

Kim and I will soon be submitting this work for review and [hopeful] publication. If you have questions about this work, please feel free to reach out.