BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it will start taking orders for oyster larvae through its online portal on Monday morning.
The Michael C. Voisin Oyster Hatchery typically gets about 20 to 30 orders a year for oyster larvae and seed oysters, department spokesman Rene LeBreton said in an email Friday.
"The hatchery mainly focuses on producing larvae, but seed production is performed on a limited basis,” he wrote.
Larvae cost $250 to $400 per million and seed oysters $9.75 to $13.50 per thousand, depending on the type, LeBreton said.
Orders will be first-come, first-served, with priority to Louisiana oyster growers. The department notes that larger orders may be reduced or split based on availability of larvae and seed oysters.
The portal's address is https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/alternative-oyster-culture.
The orders have been online-only at least since 2018.
LeBreton said it's hard to predict production.
“It’s a live animal and you really don’t know what your production will be until we begin the spawns,” he said.
