Oyster harvesting occurred for the first time in 54 years in Biloxi Bay on Tuesday  after water quality reached a standard that was acceptable to inspectors, the Sun Herald reported.

Forty-five boats, 31 from Mississippi, were registered for oystering, the newspaper reported.

Department of Marine Resources Director Jamie Miller told the Sun Herald that water standards to allow raw seafood to be consumed were finally reached this month. Officials have been tracking the quality since 2014 in hopes of renewing oystering in the bay.

While the oystermen have a 15-sack daily limit, there is no total sack harvest cap on the reefs because only tonging is allowed, Commission on Marine Resources board member Richard Gollott told the newspaper. Gollott said using tongs helps the reefs develop more places for oysters to attach.

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license. For digital publications:

• Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
• Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

For print publications:

• You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.

Oyster harvesting returns to Biloxi Bay

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
November 1, 2016

<h1>Oyster harvesting returns to Biloxi Bay</h1> <p class="byline">by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today <br />November 1, 2016</p> <p>Oyster harvesting occurred for the first time in 54 years in Biloxi Bay on Tuesday &nbsp;after water quality reached a standard that was acceptable to inspectors, the Sun Herald reported.</p> <p>Forty-five boats, 31 from Mississippi, were registered for oystering, the newspaper reported.</p> <p>Department of Marine Resources Director Jamie Miller told the Sun Herald that water standards to allow raw seafood to be consumed were finally reached this month. Officials have been tracking the quality since 2014 in hopes of renewing oystering in the bay.</p> <p>While the oystermen have a 15-sack daily limit, there is no total sack harvest cap on the reefs because only tonging is allowed, Commission on Marine Resources board member Richard Gollott told the newspaper. Gollott said using tongs helps the reefs develop more places for oysters to attach.</p> <div></div> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2016/11/01/oyster-harvesting-returns-to-biloxi-bay/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30520&amp;ga3=UA-75003810-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

1