The Calcasieu Estuary in southwest Louisiana is a highly productive estuarine habitat system that supports fisheries for shrimp, oysters, catfish, blue crabs, redfish, and menhaden. As a result of industrialization of the upper portion of the estuary beginning in the 1940s, the upper Calcasieu Estuary is contaminated with hazardous substances from Moss Lake in the south to the saltwater barrier north of Lake Charles. The Calcasieu Watershed project helps demonstrate the spatial component of ecological risk to coastal resource managers and communities. This figure depicts sediment risks to the aquatic resources as well as amphipod toxicity in Bayou d’Inde and Lockport Marsh.
High resolution available. (846KB, 855x814).