Gulf Coast Oystermen Debate Oil-Spill Recovery

HOUMA — Louisiana oyster producers are trying to figure out the best way to recover from the BP oil spill and response efforts that wiped out some of the state’s most-productive harvesting areas.

At stake is not only a cultural delicacy but an industry that employs 3,500 residents and has an estimated $300 million economic impact on the state.

Louisiana is the nation’s top supplier of oysters, and producers are now trying to decide whether to rebuild using traditional methods or take the opportunity to reinvent the state’s shellfish industry.

The state’s Oyster Advisory Committee, created after the spill to help steer recovery, met Wednesday at the Government Tower in Houma.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Houma Today (Houma, LA).