A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
Richard Bosarge began harvesting Mississippi oysters on his boat, the Royster, in 2007. He and other oystermen pivoted to other types of fishing when the state’s public reefs closed in 2019. Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press.
As we gather with our families this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, a tradition in part of the Gulf is in flux: oysters, at least local ones. After booming at the start of the 21st century, Mississippi's oyster harvest has dropped from millions of pounds annually to zero harvests on public reefs since 2018.
Mississippi Free Press reporter Illan Ireland has a nice piece this week about a brief season returning these local shellfish to markets. He takes us out on the waters of Mississippi Sound to experience this return, and we've got a video of that on our Instagram here.
Like so many issues the Desk covers, there's a lot to unpack with permanent solutions. Hurricane Katrina damaged large swaths of the reef. Flood response policies remain an issue. But what struck me is the message of hope: Fishers excited to get back on the water and state officials seeing signs of population rebound.
I also hope you'll check out our other reporting on saltwater threatening the water supply of towns along the river, and one of our expert journalists on national television.
Thanks for reading. Have a safe and relaxing holiday, and we'll be back with more reporting from across the Basin next week.
Sincerely,
Michael Crowe Contributing Editor, Ag & Water Desk
Support the Desk!
The Desk exists to tackle complicated stories like you see in this newsletter, from technical reporting on how saltwater intrusion affects drinking water, to bringing cultural context to the economics of an oyster fishery. This kind of reporting takes time and resources to get right, but that's what we do.
Help support this work by donating to the Desk today. We're participating in NewsMatch for the first time, so gifts are doubled until the end of the year. If we get 50 new supporters, the Desk receives an additional $1,000 bonus. If you found value in this newsletter, please consider donating. Could you give $10 today?
This is the third year in a row that saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico has crept up the Mississippi River. In our first partnership with Sierra magazine, we explore the phenomenon, known as saltwater intrusion.
By Eva Tesfaye, WWNO and Lily Carey, Sierra
Plaquemines Parish surrounds the last 70 miles of the Mississippi River, making it susceptible to saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico, something that's becoming more common as climate change plagues the region with more frequent drought. Kezia Setyawan/WWNO
