MIDWESTERN FRESHWATER FLOODS COSTLY TO THE GULF COAST SEAFOOD INDUSTRY

In 2019, seafood businesses in the Gulf Coast region lost over $100 million due to large amounts of freshwater coming from the midwest (McConnaughey, 2019). Every spring when rain begins to fall on frozen ground, flooding occurs from the midwest down to the Gulf Coast region.  Annually, this affects 14 million people, as the Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers drain more than 40% of the landmass of the continental United States (Almukhtar et al., 2019).  While these floods are typically naturally occuring, climate change is exacerbating its effects and drastically increasing the amount of flooding the region experiences, leaving behind the devastation of the 2019 floods.

The freshwater flooding in 2019 resulted in the death of 95% of Mississippi’s oysters and the cancellation of the oyster fishing season in the Mississippi Sound of Alabama, as well as the state of Mississippi closing its beaches due to algae blooms (McConnaughey, 2019). By the end of June, eleven states sought federal disaster funds for more than 400 counties (Almukhtar et al., 2019).  These events are even more alarming when taking into consideration how important this area is for seafood production in the US; in 2017, Louisiana produced 54%, or 13.3 million pounds, of the national seafood harvest (McConnaughey, 2019).

Unfortunately, like most climate change related events, these disasters did not occur in a vacuum and will result in even worse effects down the line. Oyster populations need five years to recover, creating a positive feedback loop-- as more rainfall occurs due to climate change, there will be a continuation of flooding and an annual devastation of oyster populations in the Gulf Coast (McConnaughey, 2019). If it is hard for the seafood industry to bounce back now, it will be even more challenging in a few years. Moving forward, the oyster and larger seafood industries will need to think about how our changing climate will affect them and what sustainable strategies need to be created so that our vital Gulf Coast industries can continue to provide for our nation.  

Written by Amy Shearer

References:

Almukhtar, S., Migliozzi, B., Schwartz, J., Williams, J. (2019). The Great Flood of 2019: A 

Complete Picture of a Slow-Motion Disaster. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/11/us/midwest-flooding.html?searchResultPosition=1

McConnaughey, J. (2019). Gulf Coast seafood biz slammed by freshwater from floods. AP News. 

Retrieved from: https://apnews.com/article/30df6995bcfa477a8a8a3cd8b3ea8fb5