PANEL DISCUSSION 



CONSEQUENCES: EFFECTS ON NATURAL RESOURCES PRODUCTION 



James G. Gosselink, Moderator 



Robert H. Chabreck, David W. Fruge, Barney Barrett, 

 R. Eugene Turner, Mike Voisin and John Teal, Panelists 



James Gosselink: Let me ask Mr. Voisin and Dr. Teal if they have any comments before 

 we have a general discussion. 



Mike Voisin: Do we want to maintain the coastal marshes as they were in 1940, 1950, 

 I960, 1970 or let them to continue to degrade before taking action? Being in the 

 oyster industry, I would hope we try to save them as they are today. We are very 

 satisfied with the existing conditions, even though we do have some problems. 

 Oyster fishermen were the first to feel the loss of marshes and barrier islands. 

 Oyster supplies dwindled in terms of catch per boat while the total catch remained 

 the some. In the I930's and I940's oysters were fished up to 10 to 15 miles offshore. 

 Oysters are dependent on brackish water of 5 to 15 ppt, but with salt water intrusion 

 oystering has moved inshore. 



Oysters are good indicators of environmental quality; they don't move and they 

 can't lie. If we manage the environment to maintain oyster production, as it is today 

 we will also be preserving valuable coastal environments. As oyster production 

 moved inshore, the pollution of coastal waters with human wastes has moved down 

 toward the coast. The convergence of intruding salt water and the pollution line is 

 reducing available habitat for oyster production and harvest. Other problems facing 

 the oyster industry are oil company exploration, salt-dome leaching for petroleum 

 storage and the proposed Avoca Island levee extension, which would limit the 

 introduction of fresh water into the west Terrebonne marshes, one of the State's 

 leading oyster grounds. Production east of the Mississippi River is declining and 

 oyster growth rates have slowed there because of marsh deterioration. Production is 

 shifting to Terrebonne, Lafourche, Vermilion and Iberia parishes where the 

 Atchafalaya River supplies fresh water and nutrients. If we can save the oyster as it 

 is today, we will save the coast as it is today. 



John Teal: In the over twenty years I have been a student of salt marsh ecology in 

 Georgia and New England, I have witnessed the evolution of research and 

 understanding and also the development of concern about the destruction of coastal 

 marshes. Louisiana has more marshes than any other state in the United States and 

 most of the problems associated with marshes. I won't say you also have most of the 

 understanding about how marshes work, but you obviously have a lot of it in 

 Louisiana. In New England the marshes are small and we can isolate inputs and 

 outputs and thus have advantages in some of the ways one can do research. 



The general problems of wetland destruction and, in a broad sense, the 

 consequences to fish and wildlife are understood. The consequences of actions taken 



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