A new oyster hatchery built with $3 million in BP oil spill settlement money to withstand hurricane-force winds opened today in Grand Isle.
The Associated Press reports the 7,000-square-foot concrete building, designed to withstand 140-mph winds, is raised 20 feet above sea level and will more than double production of the larvae used to seed oyster grounds, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
The building’s recirculating water system allows year-round production, boosting the number of larvae from about 400 million a year to as many as 1 billion a year, department spokeswoman Ashley Roth says in an email to The AP.
“This oyster hatchery is a very important tool in rehabilitating the state’s valuable oyster resources in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” department Secretary Robert Barham said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony today.
LSU President F. King Alexander added, “LSU is proud of the role our scientists play in Louisiana’s world-famous oyster industry, which supplies more than a third of our country’s oysters. This hatchery will provide critical support to a resource that is integral to our state’s culture and identity.”
Money for the project came from the $1 billion in early restoration funds that BP provided after the spill in 2010. Design work is going on for two marine fish hatcheries and research stations, also to be built with money from BP. One for marine baitfish, such as Atlantic croaker and Gulf killifish, is being built in Plaquemines Parish. The other, just south of Lake Charles, will produce spotted sea trout, red drum and southern flounder.
