The Mississippi River in northeast Missouri’s Clarksville (file photo courtesy of Clarksville city website)
The 12 U.S. states bordering the Mississippi River, including Missouri, are tag teaming together to address what creates seasonal dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico. The states have also helped to develop plans to fight the so-called Hypoxic Dead Zone that could skyrocket the price of seafood. Chris Wieberg is Missouri’s lead representative on this task force, and he discusses the Hypoxic Dead Zone.
“The impact of the fishery is primarily caused by nutrient enrichment from the gulf of Mexico as it relates to the Mississippi River,” explained Wieberg. “The 12 states within the Mississippi River Basin have set out on reducing nutrients in various ways.”
Missouri will use federal funding to develop approaches to reduce its contribution to that dead zone. The nutrients create an area in the Gulf of Mexico that becomes deadly for fish and other marine life.
“It definitely has an effect on the shrimping harvest in the Gulf and some of the most productive shrimp fisheries in Gulf are impacted by the zone,” said Wieberg. “It is a direct result of nutrient enrichment. It’s definitely a water quality challenge that the basin needs to address.”
Plans include a dashboard that tracks nutrient reduction of water quality and conservation programs, in addition to monitor nutrients in the Missouri, Mississippi and Grand Rivers.
Click here for more information on Missouri’s Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.
Copyright © 2023 · Missourinet
