POINTE A LA HACHE, Louisiana (NBC News Channel) -- A move to save marshes from the oil has backfired in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Water from the Mississippi River was supposed to flush the oil back out to the Gulf. But thousands of acres of oyster beds are now dead.
Opening the Mississippi was supposed to flush the oil out to sea. Instead, the burst of fresh water helped kill the very crop officials were trying to save.
"I'd say 80% is dead now," said Kenny Fox.
Fox runs over 10,000 acres of oyster beds in Pointe A La Hache. Most of them now are unusable.
"This is all totally dead," Fox explained. "All died cause of the freshwater."
The widespread shellfish death hit business hard. Fox's usual fleet of 20 boats is down to four. A majority of Fox's team left to work for BP. So, the remaining crew is scrounging the sea floor for what's left.
Doesn't take much to tell if it's a good catch. The live ones are closed and the dead ones are recently opened and still white on the inside. Right now, they're seeing a lot more of these than these.
"Typically, we have about three times that right now," Fox said. "In two hours we've had three times that much."
As more fresh water flows in, catches are expected to dwindle even more.
"We're getting enough saltwater here for them to survive a little bit," added Fox.
But it takes at least two years for oyster beds to grow before a harvest.
"This is the worst I've ever seen in all my life," said Fox.
It's leaving fishermen here docked for years to come.
No word yet on when wildlife and fisheries plans to close the diversion canals.
