Listen to the podcast episode below, then enjoy the bonus Q&A with Mike Arguelles that explores off-bottom oyster aquaculture even more.

Coastal Mississippi: Discover the “Secret Coast” and Off-Bottom Oyster Aquaculture with Mike Arguelles

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Q&A with Mike Arguelles

BIO

Mike Arguelles was born and raised in Biloxi and enjoyed the recreational fishing that the Coast offers. Wading with a cast net for mullet was his favorite. Fishing for White Trout and Ground mullet was another favorite.

Mike graduated high school from Biloxi High in 1971 and Gulf Coast Community College in 1973.  He worked for the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs in the Botany and Fisheries Section.  He went back to college in 1985 and earned a BS degree from the University of Southern MS in Engineering Technology.  For the next 12 years, he worked in Manufacturing plants in the Memphis area as an Industrial Engineer. 

He met and married his wife, Anita.  Together, they realized they wanted to live on the MS Gulf Coast, and both searched for jobs there.  They bought a little house on the Tchoutacabouffa River and used it on holiday weekends as Mike’s Family were all in the Biloxi area.  Anita took a job with Triton ATM Company in Long Beach and moved to the coast. They sold their house in Memphis and Mike came down to add onto the house on the river.  In the scope of upgrades to the river house he built his first pier and covered deck and decided this would be his new career. 

With Anita’s support (financially) from her job as Product Manager at Triton, they started a new company, Arguelles Marine Contracting.  They grew it to what it is today – A 40’ barge two track hoes and two boats and a four-man crew.  AMC has always focused on residential waterfront construction including piers boathouses, boatlifts, and bulkheads.

Biloxi and Coastal Mississippi

• What is Biloxi and/or Coastal Mississippi known for? What makes it a unique destination?

Biloxi has a rich history well documented by the French Explorer, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville.

Biloxi’s east-tip peninsula with Deer Island protecting it is the most likely spot for waterfront development.  Abundant Seafood to be caught needed factories to process at the foot of the docks where fishing boats were kept when not out to sea. Immigrants came to the coast for the job and populated Biloxi with hard-working people.

As the Shrimp and Oyster population dwindled so did the industry. City leaders lobbied for Gaming to build the economy and in 1990 the first casino opened in Biloxi.  The limited commitment would allow casinos to develop only “Dock Side” on formerly commercial waterfront property.  The point of Biloxi’s abandoned seafood factories was qualified spots and so the transformation began.

In answer to the question of what is Biloxi known for I’d say History, Seafood, and Casino Gaming.  I quite often talk to tourists when I encounter them at a restaurant.  “Welcome to the Coast” I would say, in keeping with that southern hospitality thing that is very real. The last couple I talked to make Biloxi their destination from Breaux Bridge LA.  They just love it here, bringing their RV to a spot just north of the strip where there are a string of restaurants.  They enjoy the beach, the food, and gaming. The coast is a 26-mile-long man-made beach that is a draw for residents of Louisiana because it’s more accessible than their beaches.

• What would you consider a perfect day? (activity)

For me, a day on the water is hard to beat. Whether fishing or working on a boat at the oyster farm.  Add good weather and productive results, and I come back very happy.

• Favorite restaurant for seafood?

McElroys Harbor House restaurant is my go-to spot.  I like to go by boat after working the farm and treat my crew to lunch.  My shrimp boots always get a stair by the tourist but then they realize the locals eat here. I even had a stranger thank me for working that day (holiday) and found out later he picked up my tab for lunch.  I tell my friend Mickey McElroy that I make up part of the atmosphere.

For a splurge, we like to go to Mary Mahoney’s old Friendship house. They serve a stuffed flounder that has had the backbone removed so you can eat it all the way down to the plate.

French Hermit Oysters

1. Tell us about your journey as an oyster farmer. What led you to pursue this?

I have always been a fan of harvesting seafood on my own.  With a recreational license vs commercial license, you are allowed to tong up to 3 sacks per 7-day period for your own use but not for resale.  I also had a recreational license for shrimping and crabbing.

As a marine contractor building piers for residential customers, I had a report with the MS Department of Marine Resources (MDMR).  I would apply for the wetland permits required on behalf of my clients.  I learned about the state’s effort to launch a new industry.  It was called Off Bottom Oyster Aquaculture and they wanted potential oyster farmers to sign up for the class.  My wife and I were in the first class (2018).  MDMR’s Jason Rider was the director of this new division.  Their plan was to use Restore Act money to train candidates about the biology of the oyster and the task required to raise them to market size.  The target product was called a boutique oyster destined for the half-shell market.  They set up a training area south of deer island, loaned us the cages and bags needed, and gave us 10,000 oyster seeds to raise on our own.  After attending the 5 classes (some in the field putting down lines), we were qualified to lease 1 or 2 acres in the “Deer Island Oyster Park” 

We explained to Jason that we wanted to learn about this but were not committed to becoming farmers.  He encouraged us to take the class as it was not filled up (20 spots).  The experience was so rewarding that we decided to take the plunge and lease an acre and start a farm.  We bought some Oyster Gro cages and installed some lines to hold them.  We had the resources from our marine construction business; a boat and workers borrowed one day a week.

• What are the main differences between off-bottom oyster farming and other methods, and why did you choose this approach?

Mississippi’s “natural” reefs lie in the western part of the sound.  Pass Christian is the main port for the oyster fleet. Some of the reefs allow dredging and some allow only tonging. The state used advice from biologists to set the rules for harvesting.  Some of the rules include.

1. The natural oyster does not mature until it is 3 inches long and therefore able to spawn. So rule no 1 no oysters can be taken under 3 inches long. It takes natural oysters grown on the bottom 3 years to reach sexual maturity.
2. The population of oysters is related to the available cultch material after spawning.  The oyster larvae are subject to move around in the water column for about 2 weeks.  At that time, they are attached to something and begin their life as stationary shellfish. They call this phase Spat. If the spat fails to find a good substance to grow on, it will not survive. So rule no 2 is do a good job in the culling box.  Knock off cultch material and dead oysters at the reef.  This material returned to the floor of the sea for the next batch of spat.
3. Because oysters are most likely to be eaten raw, even from natural reefs, the water quality is monitored closely.  The fact that oysters filter feed seawater at a rate of 50 gallons per day, it’s no wonder they are the exact quality as the water they’re in.  The state will close the reefs to harvest when water quality drops and this occurs from rainwater runoff from the land.  It’s so predictable that they close the reefs when the Pearl River gets to a certain flood stage. To open the reefs again, water samples must be good two days in a row. The natural reefs in the western part of the sound are classified as “Conditionally approved”.
4. The harvesting of oysters from MS reefs is closely monitored by the Marine Patrol officers. The fisherman must check in at the station at Pass Christian Harbor before setting out to harvest oysters.  Upon return with his catch, he goes back to the station and purchases tags for each sack of oysters harvested. The cost includes a $.15/ sack shell tax. A marine patrol officer picks a sack he wants to inspect and it’s dumped out on the dock.  He’s looking for excessive cultch material or boxes.  If not in compliance, then the fisherman is given a citation and instructed to go and dump his catch back on the nearest reef.
5. The oysters harvested are measured in sacks and the standard sack is 3 – 5 gal buckets. I counted 360 oysters in one sack. The limit each boat can take per day varies per season based on the biologist’s estimated population.  For the commercial tonging boat the limit was 15 sacks per day (as I last remembered).  The reefs may close for the season based on the quota set (total number of sacks harvested).
6. The reefs are open to fishermen from daylight till 4:00 pm Monday through Saturday.  They are not open on Sundays or state holidays.
7. Oyster season is set by MDMR but usually opens in September and closes in April (thus months with “R” in them.  The mature natural oysters spawn when the water temperature reaches 80 deg F and when they do the meat quality changes (unfavorably). 
8. The water salinity in the estuary varies based on the amount of rainfall.  Oysters feed on Phytoplankton which feeds on nutrients in the water.  The most productive oyster reefs are in an estuary with a good source of nutrient-rich freshwater.  The consumer likes oysters taken from saltier water 20 – 26 PPT.  Oyster biologists worry about drought conditions and the resulting higher salinity, not because of the taste (too salty) but because of an oyster predator called the Oyster Drill.  Locally called the conk, it can drill a hole through the shell of an oyster to eat it. The conk needs salty water to thrive.  In periods of extreme drought and high salinity  water on the reefs allows the drills to move in and can and have devastated an oyster reef in the MS Sound

Off-Bottom Oyster Farming has a whole new set of rules. Comparing them to the ones mentioned above for the natural reefs

1. The seed purchased by the farmer is taken from a hatchery and the next batch will come from a hatchery, so no size limits are put on harvesting of off-bottom oysters.
2. The population of oysters on a farm is what the farmers purchase in seed.  There is no need to put oyster sell back overboard at Deer Island. The area’s shifting sand won’t support bottom reefs.
3. The area set up by the state called Deer Island Oyster Park has a long history of good quality water, it has been classified as always approved for harvesting.  Only in the event of a catastrophic event like red tide or hurricane will the area be closed for harvest.
4. For the off-bottom oyster farmer, there is no check-in / outstation. He buys his tags ahead of time and submits a trip ticket report every time he harvests. We also call the Marine Patrol dispatch to let them know when we are on the lease and what activity is being conducted.
5. The off-bottom oyster unit of measure when harvesting is by each.  We can harvest any number of oysters per sack. The usual sack quantity is 100 count. There are no limits to the quantity you can harvest in a day.  The oysters all belong to you, and you can take as many as you want. The most I took in one day was 3200.  A time limit for unrefrigerated is set for each month. In summer months you have only 2.5 hours before getting the oysters to your customer or dealer.  This will affect the limit on how many you can get.  The clock starts when the 1^st cage is lifted out of the water. In the winter months, you have 18 hours to get them to refrigeration.  The rule is all about vibrio concentration levels in the oyster. Biologists study the facts and set the limits. The Farmer knows the importance of adhering to the rules as it will affect his business.
6. Off Bottom oyster farmers can harvest any day of the year (daylight to dark) save state holidays. Electronic trip tickets are submitted on the same day as the harvest.
7.  Off Bottom farmers enjoy a year-round season.  Advancements in the oyster hatchery business have also given us triploid oysters.  An oyster that won’t spawn when the water warms mean it won’t lose its meat quality in the summer months. This coupled with the timetable controls on unrefrigerated oysters allows the year-round harvest season.   
8. The off-bottom oyster cages effectively protect the oysters from the conk which can’t swim.  It can climb a rope but it can’t get into the 14 mm mesh bags holding the oysters.

• Can you walk us through the process of cultivating oysters off the bottom? What are some of the challenges and rewards of this type of farming?

We take a batch of 50k seed that are 6mm and put them in a vexar bag that has 4.5 mm mesh, so none are lost. Ten thousand seeds in each bag will measure about 25%.  When you return in one week the bag will be 50% full and so the first task is to keep them split so they have room to grow.  The oysters are not the only thing that grows well on the farm. Algae and barnacles foul the cages in short order.  Every time we split the oysters, we clean them, the bags, and the cages.  If the oysters are big enough, we’ll put them in 9 mm bags and then 14 mm bags.  The bigger the mesh size on the bag the better the water flow through it and the more food the oysters can get.  The OysterGro cage has two pontoon-type floats that keep it on the surface. The wires that hold the float to the cage corrode and break letting the float go away.  The cage is now leaning, and all oysters are slid down to one end of each bag.  Keeping the cages in good working order is my biggest problem.

For me, the most rewarding part of it all was designing and installing the systems on my 24’ Carolina Skiff.  The barge push boat was used at the oyster farm as well.  It was customized and specialized so much that I wouldn’t take it back to the barge.  We bought another boat to push the barge and the M boat became dedicated to Oyster Farming.  It has an aluminum frame over the whole boat with a canvas top that keeps you and the oysters in the shade (a rule in summer months).  An overhead winch with a special ss hook that can flip the cage up onto the side of the boat.  A second grab gets the cage horizontal making it easy to slide the oysters out. An aluminum pick out box allows all the crabs to escape back into the sea.  An onboard tumbler sorter and a pressure washer with a wash-down pump to feed it give you all you need to cultivate the oysters right there on the lease.

• How do the environment and unique conditions in Biloxi contribute to the quality and taste of the oysters you produce?

What I can tell you is that all the east coast and gulf coast oysters are the same species.  I’m told that they get a unique flavor that is associated with the location they are grown.

Deer Island must be a good place because they are delicious.

• Are there any specific techniques or practices that you use to ensure the sustainability of your oyster farming operations?

Oysters grow at different rates, so when I split them I put them through the sorter and keep the fast-growing oysters isolated and ready to harvest.  Some have reached market size in less than 10 months. The slow-growing ones are tolerated until they are finally big enough to harvest at 24 months.  Compared to natural oysters which take 3 years to reach legal size, the off-bottom farmer stands a better chance of surviving natural disasters.

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Still hungry for more? This article explains a day on the oyster boat and includes Anita’s Oyster Soup recipe:

Mississippi’s Off-Bottom Aquaculture Brings Oysters Fresh from Sea to Table