A Guide to the Fertile Fisheries Crescent
with an Emphasis on Louisiana

Naturalists, scientists, and economists needing an overview of current information on the influence of the Mississippi River drainage system on the Northern Gulf of Mexico between Mobile Bay Alabama and Sabine Pass Texas will appreciate this book. Through geological time, this coastline has ranged from 250 miles offshore to North Louisiana. The present coastline consists of numerous barrier islands, bays and the
most extensive saline, brackish, intermediate, and fresh marsh
communities in the United States. It is currently eroding because of a lack of sediment input, subsidence, and numerous dredged canals. Efforts to remediate the coastline are expensive and problematic. This highly productive shellfish producing coastal region of the continental United States is regularly subjected to excess nutrients from the Mississippi River and was terribly stressed by the Macondo oil leak. Important Fish, shellfish, reptiles, mammals and birds are discussed. The region is economically important for strategic shipping ports and is a vital flyway for resident and migratory birds.