A Nicholls State University professor is proposing the state use artificial oyster reefs to combat coastal land loss and preserve history.
Earl Melancon, a professor of biological sciences, is working with Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe in Terrebonne Parish to explore how using oyster reefs could help keep the tribe’s sacred burial mounds from eroding into the gulf, Inside Science reports.
Donald Dardar, the tribe’s second chairman, says oil companies have already cut canals through some sacred sites and then failed to maintain them, leaving the banks to erode.
The reefs, which could be planted along the coast as soon as November, are created using huge, 20-foot-long mats made of UV-resistant plastic mesh filled with limestone.
The mats protect the shore from erosion by mitigating wave action and strong currents, and provide a place for oysters to grow. Over time the mats will break down, but the reefs stay, providing a natural, living shoreline barrier.
Because the reefs continue to grow, they can also keep up with sea level changes on their own because oysters like to keep the same amount of water above them, says Melancon.
People will not be allowed to harvest the oysters, so the reefs should remain intact, but the new oysters will likely provide a source of larvae that can help repopulate harvestable sites.
Other projects in the area have shown some success using the same technique, says Melancon, and the tribe’s burial mounds are a good candidate for protection.
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