calcasieu lake and oyster task force

[Duck Butter]

On these oyster reef projects one of the limiting resources for these projects is actually finding leftover shells to put in place for the reefs. Oyster larvae ('spat') have to find a hard surface to attach to, and this is where leftover oyster shells come into play. Once they have a hard surface to attach to they can multiply and expand. I listened to a talk on oysters not long ago and in Louisiana we get to 'spat runs' a year which was interesting. Also, another topic came up and that was Sabine Lake. I have never been there, but surely many of you have. In the south end of the lake is a HUGE oyster reef that hasn't been harvested in years. Can't remember how long, but this thing is huge and is coming up for reopening either this year or next year. Well, it hasn't been harvested in years, so there is NO reason to allow harvest now, the oystermen have been doing fine without this being open. When they were taking samples the biologists were amazed at the clarity of water near the reef.