For Louisiana oysterman Tony Tesvich the last few years have been all about water, water, and more water. Too much, too little, poor quality, high salinity, low salinity, nitrogen, phosphates and hypoxia; over the past two years his oysters have been flooded with a host of water issues with the latest being the future plans of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CRPA).
Tesvich, who grew up in an oyster camp in the bayou, has been an oysterman all his life, working the boats before captaining his own at the age of 20.
“For oystermen harvesting wild and farm raised oysters, Louisiana’s water quality is the important issue,” said Tesvich, proprietor of Tony Tesvich Oysters in Empire, “We can grow oysters on the reef, we can grow oysters in cages, but without good water quality all of that is moot. We daily face problems like nitrogen and phosphates flowing down the Mississippi from upper tributaries that contain large amounts of fertilizers used for agriculture and lawns. This has caused hypoxia in the water, especially after low salinity.”
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Gulf Seafood Foundation
