In Hot Water: Cranes, Oysters, and Crabs

Turns out the whooping crane can tell you a WHOLE LOT about the health of our waters—including our seafood! 

That’s why the endangered whooping crane, along with oyster farming and blue crabs, get the spotlight in our 3rd episode of In Hot Water: Texas.

With world class experts, we dig deep into wild oyster and reef restoration, oyster mariculture (btw, Texas was the LAST state to legalize it!), and the concept of a “living shoreline.” 

Speaking of living, the whooping crane is dependent on blue crabs for survival. Economically, the blue crab is the most important crab species in Texas and is the third most valuable fishery behind oyster and shrimp, having been part of the fishing culture since the 1800s (if not earlier). 

So how can all three survive—if not thrive—in the era of the climate crisis? Let’s talk about it! 

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro

• 02:18 Oysters—the superfood that does it all!

• 04:12 Jennifer Pollack of the Harte Research Institute walks us through their oyster recycling program, taking spent oyster shells from restaurants and putting them back into places in dire need of reef restoration

• 05:42 Oyster are little water treatment plants and their shells are the perfect product

• 11:16 Do oysters sequester carbon?

• 14:51 What’s a “living shoreline” and what does it mean for wild oyster restoration? 

• 18:28 You can’t just put structure in water and expect it to turn into a reef teeming with oysters. As Gail Sutton explains, you have to “think like an oyster.”

• 26:12 Texas was the LAST state to legalize oyster mariculture

• 28:44 While wild and farmed oysters face many of the same challenges due to climate change, farmed oysters have some advantages

• 31:36 The current state of oyster farming in Texas (Hint: it’s mission critical.)

• 35:57 Whooping cranes are another critically important and endangered animal in the region. Liz Smith share the history of their decline over the last century

• 38:26 How do wind farms affect cranes?

• 42:44 With ten of the world's 15 crane species facing extinction, Liz walks us through the challenges and the innovations that will meet them to support cranes facing extinction.

• 50:30 The reliance of whooping cranes on the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus—which means "savory, beautiful swimmer”—has been documented since at least the 1930s. Liz details the importance of the blue crab for cranes and the region, how crabs reproduce, and the actions management agencies are taking to safeguard the species. The blue crab is the third most valuable fishery (behind oyster and shrimp) and has been part of the fishing culture since at least the 1800s! 

 

Resources: 

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood producing regions.