Louisiana Oyster Harvest Up, But Stocks Are Way Down

If slurping down salty oysters for you is like standing in the cool shade of valhalla, then Steve Beck has some good news and some bad news.

Beck, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, presented numbers Thursday showing that private-lease oyster harvests in 2015 set a record, producing more than 12 million pounds of oyster meat for the first time ever.

When combined with the harvest from public grounds, the industry brought in more than 14 million pounds of oyster meat, one of only three times in the last 55 years the industry cleared that benchmark. The long-term average for annual oyster harvest is 11.16 million pounds.

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