PASS CHRISTIAN, MS — The tonging reefs off Pass Christian's harbor have enough oysters on them for fishermen to fill ten sacks a day. However, due to the lingering effects of the April oil spill, dredging reefs are off limits to fishermen for at least this season.
That's made it hard for people like John Livings to earn a living when a significant portion of his livelihood has been temporarily sacked.
"We were catching oysters in the beginning of 2010 this year before the oil spill," John Livings said. "Just me and my crew was catching 100 sacks a day. And after the oil spill now, there's nothing on the reefs. So something happened to them."
The limitations on oyster season came after a shrimp season that basically didn't exist. Boats remained at the docks, because for much of the 2010 brown shrimp season, the oil polluted Mississippi Sound was off limits to fishing. And there are no assurances 2011 will be any better.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: WLOX-TV (South Mississippi).
