June 2, 2011 - Today, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) biologists along with Louisiana Sea Grant scientists, deployed more than 100 million oyster larvae and 500,000 oyster spat (or immature oysters approximately one-quarter inch in size.) This joint effort between LDWF and Louisiana State University (LSU), is part of a $500,000 grant provided to LSU to help rehabilitate vital oyster grounds impacted by hurricanes in the last six years.
The oyster larvae and spat were released in the Hackberry Bay Public Oyster Seed Reservation, located in north Barataria Bay. The specimens were deployed on test plots of reef to enable biologists to track progress.
This effort is the first of many ventures to help rehabilitate Louisiana’s oyster grounds. The state plans to institute similar deployments of larvae and spat on other public grounds and private leases.
Figures prior to the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010 indicate that Louisiana produces approximately one-third of all oysters harvested in the U.S. and 50 percent of oysters harvested in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.louisiana.gov , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb , or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.
For more information contact Laura Wooderson with LDWF at firstname.lastname@example.org  or 225.610.2363.
Since its establishment in 1968, Louisiana Sea Grant (www.laseagrant.org ) has worked to promote stewardship of the state’s coastal resources through a combination of research, education and outreach programs. Louisiana Sea Grant, based at Louisiana State University, is part of the National Sea Grant Program.
For more information about Louisiana Sea Grant contact Roy Kron at (225)578-6451 or email@example.com .