CODEN — Troy Cornelius has been working the waters of Mobile Bay for 30 years. For generations, his family has used the area for fishing, crabbing, shrimping and growing oysters. However, Cornelius told 1819 News that the oyster farm was dying out due to dredging and restoration projects along the Bay.
"We've been just making a living on it, and my family goes back for a couple generations," Cornelius said. "My wife's family goes back for five generations, and it's gone from bad to worse."
Cornelius owns Portersville Bay Oyster Company and says he has one of the longest-running farms in the state. In Cedar Point Bay, he says there is only one reef left that is producing oysters.
"That's the last big producing reef we have left in Alabama," he said.
While conditions have worsened over the years due to both natural and human actions, he said a dredging operation has had the worst impact. If things continue as planned, the effect could be catastrophic for those making a living off the estuary.
In the late 1940s, an estimated 40 million cubic yards of shell were extracted from the Bay to make construction materials and build concrete roads. That process destroyed oyster-lined reefs. While oyster farmers felt the impact, the water and nearby structures began to change.
Oysters help filter water and protect shorelines from erosive wave energy. However, covering oysters with silt and sludge can be detrimental. Baby oysters, also known as "spats," are unable to cling to an oyster shell surface, where they attach to grow into an adult oyster.
"We had no spat recruitment in the fall of 2023, no spat recruitment in the spring of 2024 and no spat recruitment in the fall of 2024," Cornelius said. "When these boys tong this year on this Cedar Point Reef, this is probably going to be their last year."
"They may get next year in, but after that you can come back to this interview and throw it in my face, but there will be no more oysters caught for several years after next year."
Project after project over the decades has added to the problem. Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to deepen and widen the Port of Mobile could mean 90 million cubic yards of dredge spoil or mud into Mobile Bay over the next 20 years.
"They're not doing the right thing," Cornelius said. "It's just destroying seagrasses, oyster reefs and when you kill off the habitat, you kill off everything else."
Cornelius said even restoration projects have harmed oyster beds.
"These restoration projects, I think they just give the bid to the lowest bidder," he said. "They give the job to the lowest bidder, and this isn't something that you give to the lowest bidder."
Cornelius lost 1.5 million oysters due to a restoration project several years ago.
"I want them out of here," Cornelius continued. "All of this is stupidity. None of this should have happened right here."
The project to widen and deepen the port will allow larger ships to utilize it, bringing more opportunities to the local economy and the nation. The Mobile Chamber of Commerce, the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, the Business Council of Alabama, Coastal 150, the Economic Development Association of Alabama, Manufacture Alabama, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and Partners for Environmental Progress all support ongoing efforts. The Mobile Baykeeper, the Alabama Commercial Fisherman's Association, the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama and other local organizations do not. Those organizations said dredging and dumping in the Bay would have lasting consequences.
Cornelius agreed, saying he and others would be the ones to lose.
"They're digging up some of the last of it, and once they dig it up, it's gone," he explained. "Now I'm talking about that hard bottom is what supports these oysters, and it's just going away, and it'll never come back. At some point, there will not be a wild oyster harvest in Alabama."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it is in compliance with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
"The Mobile Harbor project complies with all applicable federal and state regulations," the Corps said in a statement. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is actively monitoring dredging to ensure compliance and continues to work with jurisdictional agencies to protect resources in Mobile Bay."
The Mobile District of the Corps underwent a consultation for compliance with the Endangered Species Act, and that report can be found online. A 2018 report stated that the NMFS found no unacceptable impacts on monitored habitats.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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