Facts About Oysters in the Gulf of Mexico
Oysters are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, but according to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, a 90 to 95 percent oyster mortality occurred on the major commercial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Grown in farms and in the wild, these tasty little bi-valves make up a large global fishery and processing industry that has since made a recovery from that storm.
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Anatomy
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Oysters filter plankton and other particles from the water for food. An oyster can filter up to 1.3 gal. of water an hour. All the oyster's organs are attached to the large, strong adductor muscles that hold the shell closed. This muscle composes the majority of the meat in the shell.
Habitat
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Oysters grow on reefs or piles of old broken oyster shell. One of the largest reefs is off of the Mississippi Gulf Coast near Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. This reef is hundreds of square acres and supports a fleet of roughly 300 oyster boats. The local geography is very conducive to oyster development. The salt water from the Gulf of Mexico meets fresh water dumping from the bay and the rivers. This leads to rapid changes in temperature at the meeting point, where oysters seem to thrive. Oysters that are not stressed by disease or too much fresh water can grow up to 1/4 inch per week.
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Reproduction
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Oysters reproduce by releasing sperm and eggs into the water. Once spawning is triggered, the water in parts of the Gulf of Mexico can become cloudy with sperm and eggs. A single female can produce up to 100 million eggs annually. Eggs and sperm combine to create larvae called spat. Spat are tiny little mobile oysters that are compelled by instinct to settle near other adult oysters.
Harvesting
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Oysters in the Gulf of Mexico may be farmed and collected by hand by waders and divers, but are more commonly dredged or tonged. A dredge is an A-shaped frame that supports a toothbar and a chain bag or wire basket to collect the oysters. A powerboat, or in some areas a sailboat, is used to drag the dredge teeth across the reef to catch the oysters in the dredge's basket.
Tongs are smaller toothbars, about 30 inches or less, that are attached to long handles called stales. The tong teeth pop single oysters off the reef and collect them in a wire basket. When filled, the tongs are closed tightly and raised to the surface and dumped on the boat. Commercial dredgers and tongers both sell their catch to oyster buyers in coastal towns near the reefs such as Pass Christian and Bayou Caddy in Mississippi.
Concerns
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Oysters are a bi-valve, filter-feeding animal. Water quality is a constant concern in areas where commercial oyster harvesting takes place. Harvester boat conditions and compliance is tightly regulated so as to reduce the chances of a contaminated product reaching the consumer.
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