Large-scale Mississippi River diversions may help restore Louisiana’s vanishing coastal wetlands at the expense of some of the nation’s most valuable seafood.
The Courier reports new research from the U.S. Geological Survey, in conjunction with LSU’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, shows that large-scale diversions will likely cause shifts in salinity, resulting in major implications for the plants and animals that need a specific salinity.
“Oysters, in particular, need suitable salinities in estuaries in order to grow big enough to harvest and to produce the next generation,” Hongqing Wang, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of the study, says in a prepared statement.
Louisiana is the nation’s No. 1 supplier of shrimp, blue crab, crawfish and oysters, the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says. And one out of every 70 jobs in the state is related to the seafood industry, which has a yearly economic impact of more than $2.4 billion, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.
The state already operates major Mississippi River diversions at Davis Pond in St. Charles Parish, and Caernarvon in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes. Both have sparked debate, with some environmental groups and scientists saying the diversions are essential to rebuilding Louisiana’s eroding and sinking marshes.
Commercial and recreational fishing interests, however, complain the projects damage or destroy seafood habitat. Still, the latest draft of the state’s coastal master plan calls for eight sediment diversions along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers.
“We have to use sediment diversions to build land in certain parts of the coast, or we risk ecosystem collapse,” the plan says.
