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YEAR 2004 - CRP Project #3006 (Gulf of Mexico)
Project #3006
Creation of Oyster Reefs
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
This pile of oyster shells at a St. Louis Bay plant was used to create new reef habitat
through CRP project #3006 during the spring of 2004. Two barges deployed about
900 cubic yards of shell to the site.
Project name: #3006 Creation of Two New Oyster Reefs to Improve Coastal Water Quality and to Provide Critical Fish Habitat
Project status: Complete
Grant Administrator: Gulf of Mexico Foundation (for NOAA)
Grantee: Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Project location: Biloxi, Mississippi, Harrison County and Bay St. Louis, Hancock County.
Grant period: Jan 1, 2021 - Aug 31, 2021
Grant amount: $24,990
Land Ownership: The property is owned by the State of Mississippi.
Lat/Long: St. Louis Bay: 30°21'763", 89°18'782"
Back Bay Biloxi: 30°25'238", 88°54'478"
Types of Habitat: oyster reef
Project leader:
Joseph Jewell
Office of Marine Fisheries
Miss. Dept. of Marine Resources
1141 Bayview Ave., Suite 101
Biloxi, MS 39530
(228) 374-5000 phone
(228 374-5220 fax
Species Benefiting From Restoration;
- Atlantic croaker (Micropogon undulates)
- Speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus)
- Black drum (Pogonias cromis)
- White trout (Cynoscion arenarius)
- Red drum (Sciaenops ocellata)
- Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)
- Southern kingfish (Menticirrhus americanus)
- Pinfish (Lagodon rhomboids)
- Naked goby (Gobiosoma bosci)
- Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)
- Striped blenny (Chasmodes bosquianus)
- Stone Crab (Menippe adina)
- Oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau)
- Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)
- Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus)
- Cordgrass (Spartina sp.)
- Black rush (Juncus roemerianus)
Acres of Habitat Restored:
Created a fish/shellfish reef by planting 900 cubic yards of oyster shell onto
a four-acre plot.
Justification for the Project:
The creation of reefs using oyster shell serves two
important ecological functions. First, planting clutch
material using oyster shell provides important habitat
for the setting of oyster larvae. Second, the creation of critical
fisheries habitat for sport fish and non-sport fish on
and around oyster reefs is equally important.
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PROJECT ARTICLES
Feb 4, 2021 - Sun Herald:
"Oyster test bed to be planted in polluted waters"
May 13, 2021 - Sun Herald:
"Project adds oyster reefs"
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PROJECT PHOTOS
Click on photo to enlarge
PROGRESS REPORT SLIDE SHOW
May 2004 - 7 photos
Site location in St. Louis Bay, Miss., near mouth of
Mallini Bayou. The 900-acre newly restored oyster reef is
marked with a pink dot.
Detail of map above.
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PROJECT PARTNERS
NOAA Restoration Center
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
University of Southern Mississippi
J.L. Scott Aquarium & Marine Education Center
Mississippi Chapter of The Nature Conservancy
Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks
Mississippi Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association
Mississippi Wildlife Federation
Congressman Gene Taylor’s Office
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