Louisiana opens waters to oystermen

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has ordered the partial reopening of an oyster harvesting area to give harvesters as much time as possible to bring in their product before being impacted by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Area 17, which is west of the Mississippi River in Terrebonne Parish, was originally closed May 13 as a precaution in anticipation of oil intrusion. But, officials said yesterday that there had been no intrusion as of yet so the area will reopen at sunrise today.

The state also closed harvesting Area 13 yesterday as a precaution. The closure is west of the Mississippi River in Lafourche and Jefferson parishes.