Giving Compass' Take:

• Hurricanes and storms pose serious threats to the Gulf Coast oyster billion-dollar industry, as The New Food Economy reports. 

• How can donors help ensure the quality of our sea life through disasters and an ecosystem affected by climate change? What is the full scope of the economic damage?

• Here's information about a fund that contributes to Gulf Coast resiliency.

For Cainnon Gregg, 2018 started out as a great year. After leaving his job as an installation artist to become a full-time oyster farmer in Wakulla County, Florida in 2017, Gregg began raising small oysters in baskets or bags suspended in the shallow, productive coastal waters of Apalachicola Bay.

Raising oysters “off-bottom” this way takes a lot of time and money, but has a big potential payoff. They are destined for the high-end raw bar market, where offerings are denoted by specific appellations, like “Salty Birds” (Cainnon’s oysters), “Navy Coves” (from Alabama) and “Murder Points” (also from Alabama), and can retail for twice the price of oysters harvested from traditional on-bottom reefs.

When Hurricane Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2018, it dealt a devastating blow to this nascent industry. Preliminary reports indicate significant damage and heavy crop losses. Raising oysters by any method is not an easy job, but if off-bottom farming can become established along the Gulf Coast, it could give the industry a much-needed boost, give consumers more choices, and provide a new stream of environmental benefits.

Read the full article on how climate change is affecting the food industry by Daniel R. Petrolia and William C. Walton at The New Food Economy.