Gulf Tides 15: The Dead Zone

We recently wrapped up another episode of "Gulf Tides", a web video series for the Gulf Restoration Network.

I've been reporting on, writing about, and filming the Gulf Coast environment for what seems like quite some time now. The stories I tell all seem to lead back to the same idea: that the Gulf Coast region and the Mississippi River Delta are economically important environments that need to be taken seriously and protected from degradation.

The Gulf Restoration Network is a homegrown New Orleans non-profit that focuses on the health of the Gulf of Mexico and the wetlands it borders. I'm very proud to work with the people they have on staff to make sure the public is aware of the dangers that face our region if we do not take action.

This episode features the Dead Zone and its impacts up and down the Mississippi River. I learned a lot about what goes on up river to cause the Dead Zone in the Gulf. This episode was also a great opportunity to polish up my archival footage researching skills as we were not able to just go out and get most of the footage we needed.

Revivng the Louisiana Oyster Industry

As we near the 2 year mark of the BP Oil Spill, I'm starting a new round of stories about the Gulf Coast for the National Wildlife Federation. We've titled the series "Stories from the Coast".

This latest video is a look into the current state of the oyster industry in Louisiana. As it stands now, the industry as a whole is not operating at pre-spill levels and I wanted to dig in and see what might be the causes. I found that there are a number of factors including hurricanes, some effects of the oil, but mostly the effect of freshwater from the Mississippi River.

The freshwater reached the marshes in heavy doses during the oil spill because river diversion were used in an effort to create a water flow that might push back encroaching oil. There was also a high river in the Spring of 2011 that forced officials to open the Bonnet Carre spillway to prevent flooding in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. These influxes of freshwater upset the delicate balance of salinity required to maintain a healthy oyster population.

As I went through the filming process of this story I was treated to a sack of oyster from P&J Oyster Co. I shucked the oysters and used them in my Mom's oyster stuffing recipe. Sometimes this job has some major perks.

What I took away most from this story is the idea of farming oysters that is featured near the end of the video. This concept seemed like a very legitimate way of raising and harvesting oysters. It may be some time before the fishermen start using this method, but as we continue to re-engineer our coast for the good of everyone, it's going to take innovative approaches to helping our fisherman continue to work for themselves and I think that this method will play a major role in helping the oyster fishermen.