Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Louisiana
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The success of the Louisiana oyster industry is due in large part to an effective public/private partnership in which the State manages the Public grounds for the production of seed oysters (< 3”) for transplant to private leases where they are cultivated and subsequently harvested. The limiting factor to oyster production in Louisiana is the availability of seed, and Breton Sound is the primary state seed ground. We therefore propose to estimate annual seed production and evaluate the dynamics of critical environmental and biological factors that promote oyster recruitment in Breton Sound, an area impacted by Caernarvon freshwater diversion project.