Gulf Coast Seafood Biz Slammed by Freshwater From Floods

Shrimp boat Captain Wynn Gale, left, and Earnest White, right, fill a ice box with 900 pounds of ice during storm preparations for Hurricane Matthew, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, in Darien, Ga. Hurricane Matthew steamed toward Florida with terrifying winds of 140 mph Thursday, and 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to flee inland. AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton

NEW ORLEANS—Fresh water from Midwestern floods has killed oysters along the coasts of three states and cost Mississippi half of its blue crabs.

Water that came through a Louisiana spillway killed 95% of the oysters in Mississippi’s share of the Mississippi Sound and fed toxic algae blooms that closed the state’s beaches, said Joe Spraggins, executive director of the state Department of Marine Resources. Seafood and tourism businesses, from bait shops and seafood processors to restaurants and hotels, have lost $120 million to $150 million, he said Sept. 20.