A Concrete Plan for Mississippi Seafood 

Release Date: April 27, 2006
Release Number: 1604-340

» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina

BILOXI, Miss. -- Anglers along Mississippi's coast are in for a treat.

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) officials are working on a plan to soon begin rebuilding fishing reefs in the Gulf from piles of broken concrete drainage pipes crumbled by Katrina.

While that project is expected to begin in May, DMR officials are also planning to begin limited restoration of coastal Mississippi 's valuable oyster beds in May or June. Together, Mississippi 's oyster and recreational and commercial fishing industries produce about $178 million a year in revenue for the state and local businesses, state officials say.

Hurricane Katrina wiped out about 16 fishing reefs and 90 to 95 percent of this area's 12,000 acres of oyster beds on Aug. 29, according to DMR officials.

“We have to rebuild them. They're very important to our economy,” said Scott Gordon, director of the Marine Resources Shellfish Bureau.

Right now, DMR has enough money to begin building oyster beds with about 5,000 cubic yards of processed oyster shells, probably in the western Mississippi Sound , according to Gordon.

But the agency will have to wait for more money from Congress to go further in the rebuilding process, Gordon said.

Eventually, Gordon hopes to build most of the beds with the broken concrete from structures destroyed by Katrina scattered across the coast. The concrete would be crushed and spread across the bottom of Mississippi Sound to create new oyster beds.

A bill now weaving its way through Congress would provide $40 million to restore oyster and shrimp beds along the coasts of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

Meanwhile, the road back for Mississippi 's recreational and commercial Gulf fishing industry will begin soon at the Pass Christian Wharf , where a mountain of broken concrete storm drains is piled.

DMR officials already have picked out sites about 20 miles due south of Ocean Springs and about 25 miles south of Gulfport .

DMR Biologist Kerwin Cuevas said plans are to build 10 reefs right now, each about 50 yards by 50 yards in size.

“We can start doing that in May,” Cuevas said. “One load costs $10,000 to barge and we'll need about 10 loads. Those reefs are very popular with recreational, charter boat and commercial fishermen.”

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Thursday, 27-Apr-2006 11:02:18