Changes to Louisiana Oyster Restoration Project

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The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is making some changes to the Louisiana Oyster Cultch Project. This project was selected during the first phase of early restoration in 2012.

The project placed oyster cultch onto approximately 850 acres of public oyster seed grounds throughout six areas in coastal Louisiana, including Lake Fortuna. It also constructed an oyster hatchery facility to improve existing oyster hatchery operations and produce supplemental larvae and seed.

The Lake Fortuna cultch plant did not perform as well as anticipated and we have determined that using a different cultch material and expanding environmental monitoring will maximize the chances of reef success. There are remaining funds from what was originally slated for the project. We will use roughly $2,740,000 of these funds to place additional oyster cultch onto the Lake Fortuna cultch plant. We will also use funds to monitor the additional cultch plant. The reef will offset impacts to oysters resulting from any exposure to Deepwater Horizon oil, dispersant, and response activities. 

To learn more about these changes, read the resolution and technical memo.