Saturday, January 6, 2024

USM works on oyster salinity model

HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. - Coastal Mississippi is in the peak of oyster season. 

To aid harvesters, University of Southern Mississippi professors and students are at work to make things a bit easier by trying to establish a salinity modeling system, according to Assistant Professor of Ocean Engineering, Kemal Cambazoglu. 

In recent years, the salinity level of the Bonnet Carré (La.) spillway has been causing a high mortality rate of Mississippi oysters.

There needs to be a certain mix of fresh and saltwater to have healthy oysters, Brandy Armstrong, USM Research Scientist, told WLOX. 

The team is beginning stages of tracking the model and whether they're confident in it before sharing findings and benefits on how useful it would be, says Armstrong, before making the information available to the public. 

But, once operational, the public will be able to see the salinity levels in the spillway’s water and therefore determine if it’s a suitable time to harvest oysters. 

When it comes to oysters, the saltier, the healthier - and tastier. 

To check on updates to the forecasting model, you can visit USM Coastal Operation’s Facebook page. (WLOX 01/05/24)

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