BILOXI, Miss. - Looking for seafood this weekend, there’s a chance you may be disappointed because of a shortage of supply and increased demand. Gulf Coast suppliers are working to keep them on restaurant menus. Seafood business owner Sean Desporte knows that oysters have become a hot commodity, causing some seafood places to no longer sell them. Some Louisiana restaurants have removed them off their menu” because of shortages, he claimed, where the problem can be traced to the Bonnet Carre Spillway's freshwater lurching into oyster beds. Prices are up, especially in Louisiana. Oysters sold for $60 a gallon before Hurricane Ida. They are selling for about $100 a gallon today. In Gulfport, Coast Foods is loading up on "mini sacks" of oysters that average about 40 pounds, said Coast Foods President Mark McQueen, and are averaging up to 1,800 per week. "(W)e’re looking at six to eight months before the industry can kind of recover." Since 2021, the cost of sack oysters has increased about 35 percent. (Source: WLOX 04/15/22)
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