The radiating effects of chemical fertilizer polluted Mississippi River water dumping into Lake Ponchartrain and flowing into the Gulf is starting to be felt along the coast.
Closed beaches, algae blooms, dead dolphins, disappearing shell fish and dying molluscs infected with toxins from the water that make eating them a deadly gambit.
Saturday, the Louisiana Department of Health indefinitely closed three major areas where oyster harvesters make their living. Six other are closed and another pair are partially open at this time.
According to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, fisherman and oyster harvesters are waiting and watching as their livelihood moves away from coastal areas invaded by freshwater and move further into the Gulf. For local oystermen, it means the end of their season and potentially their jobs and businesses as dead oysters are being pulled from the harvesting grounds.
The bad news keeps coming, algae blooms from fertilizer and chemically polluted fresh water contains a cyanobacteria that is toxic to oysters and dangerous to humans who consume them. And, the conditions are ripe for the rapid spread of the bacteria, warm, nutrient-rich fresh water. An oysterman from St. Bernard Parish told the paper it could take three-to-five years for oyster beds to recover after the die off.
For now all watermen are waiting for the draining of Mississippi through Bonnet Carre to end.
