Eat Oysters shirt

Follow Link-http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio.15293124



Louisiana produces about 40 percent of this country’s oysters. Eat Oysters Love Longer shirt, http://ow.ly/pjMW

Crawfish Cartoons

"Got Crawfish?" Crawfish cartoons on shirts and gifts, http://ow.ly/lDay #cajun #Houston

Fleur De Craw, Crawfish Fleur De Lis

Fleur De Craw, Crawfish Fleur De Lis design on shirts and more, http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio/5384714 #nola #cajun #crawfish

Mobile Bay Clam Fest

Mobile Bay Clam Fest, http://ping.fm/jRKZ9 #mobile #Alabama #clams

Mobile Bay Clam Fest by figstreetstudio
Browse other Mobile T-Shirts

Louisiana Blue Crab

Boiled Lake Pontchartrain Crab Shirts- http://ping.fm/YcYrV #nola

Lake Pontchartrain (Okwata) Clams

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Fest by figstreetstudio
More Lake T-Shirts

Early settlers in New Orleans found the Lake Pontchartrain clam shells could be used for roads and driveways. Growing up the service alley at my Lakeview home would get regular dumping of fresh shells and often other things would be found in them like arrow heads and even bullets.
I never tasted the Lake Clams, Rangia Cuneata, but the local Native Americans did a lot as we find shell middens all over the area from them leaving behind the white calcium rich sun bleached shells. I am told they are boiled and the water changed to clean them out and remove a harsh taste. They are considered too small for commercial eateries but locals still dig and boil them especially in Virginia and Mexico. A local dish is made called, "arroz a la tumbada", a rice and seafood soup.
Growing up these small clams benefited the local economy as many material trucks would carry them for construction. That was until the dreding was banned and now we use gravel which is heavier aand more costly.





Lake Pontchartrain Clam Diggers T-Shirt

by figstreetstudio

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Diggers by figstreetstudio
More Lake T-Shirts

From USGS at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-206/env-issues/clam-abundance.html :

"From 1933 to 1990 Rangia cuneata clam shells were harvested in Lake Pontchartrain. According to 1980's estimates, these shells had a gross annual value of $34 million and were used for the construction of roadways, parking lots, and levees and in the production of cement ( USACE , 1987). Forty-four percent of the Lake was opened to shell dredging. Dredging operations were prohibited around the shoreline, bridges and gas pipelines. Shell dredgers used a large suction device to draw up shells, sediment and water, creating trenches 1.5-2 m wide and 0.5-1 m deep. The shells were removed and the sediment and water were discharged back into the Lake ( USACE , 1987). This slurry produced a localized increase in turbidity. Despite the economic value of the shell mining industry, dredging in Lake Pontchartrain was banned in an effort to improve water quality."



 Information on Lake from:  http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0214360/

"Lake Pontchartrain started forming about 5,000 years ago when North American glacier melts caused the Mississippi River to swell and shift eastward. The river began depositing its sediment into the Gulf of Mexico, which started to form a delta. The delta would slowly grow eastward, and over 2,000 years it would separate this body of water from the gulf to form Lake Pontchartrain. Its Native American name was Okwata, meaning "wide water", we know it as Lake Pontchartrain because the Native Americans led the Frenchman Pierre La Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville through the areas wetlands. He admired Okwata so much he renamed it Lake Pontchartrain after the French Minister of the Marine.
Before the late 1960s, the Lake's shores were prime spots for picnickers and swimmers. But because of the bad pollution in the lake, the shores were closed for swimming and picnicking. Some causes of pollution are urban runoff, and poorly treated and untreated sewage. Some things you might not consider pollution, like saltwater intrusion, or natural forces, like hurricanes also affect the eco-system of the lake. Over the last sixty years there has been a loss of more than 65,000 thousand acres of wetlands. If you think about it, that's more than 1,000 acres a year. One thing that that played a significant role in this is shell dredging (banned in 1991), a process in which Rangia clams (they're those little white seashells) are scraped off the lake bottom and used on roads and driveways. It has literally turned the lake bottom upside down.
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin is made up of 16 parishes (counties) that range from rural to highly urban and support 1.5 million people. The Basin is made up of many different kinds of wetland habitats.
The LPA, the Lake Pontchartrain Area is the area that encompasses the lake. In this area, the draining and filling of wetlands to accommodate the urbanization of the north shore and south shore has greatly affected the water quality of the lake by introducing excessive nutrients and pollutants. Nutrient overloading, which comes from drainage canals or river watersheds, can sometimes lead to algae blooms in the lake."

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Diggers

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Diggers, http://ping.fm/mRoxr

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Diggers by figstreetstudio
View more Lake T-Shirts

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Festival

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Festival Shirts, http://ping.fm/fiXaa

Lake Pontchartrain Clam Fest by figstreetstudio
See more Lake Pontchartrain T-Shirts

Maryland Blue Crab Shirt

Maryland Blue crab, steamed crab, Chesapeake crab, shirts and gifts.

Crab Blue by figstreetstudio
Make Customized T-Shirt on Zazzle

Maryland Steamed Crab Black T Shirt

Steamed crab shirt- http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio.49760005

Boiled Crawfish Shirt

Crawfish (boiled) by figstreetstudio
Customized t-shirts at www.Zazzle.com

Pink Lobster Shirt

Pink Crawfish Shirt- http://ping.fm/6slJv #cajun #crawfish

Lobster Pink-

Pink Lobster by figstreetstudio
More Crawfish T-Shirts

A Cajun Crawfish Story: The Cajun Mermaid

Some time ago I asked my Grand Uncle Dominique, who was the
first Cajun to eat écrevisses (a crayfish)? He told me this story
and it make sense to me.

---

‘Grand Uncle, who was dat who ate dem first crayfish?

Well Nephew I once asked that same question of my Grand Pere Jean who was your Great
Grand Pere. He told me when he first settled here on da Bayou he had to
fish and trap to feed his family. Being from another place with
different critters he set out early one morning to make a scoop net to
see what critters were found in the Bayou and Marsh. As he walked along
the Bayou toward the Marsh he scooped into the water. With each net he
laid all the things he found onto the bank. As he got farther into the
Marsh he thought he heard some whispering, but continued to scoop things
up out of the water. Along with petits poissons (small fish), he found
petite crevette (small shrimp), and petite langoustine (small lobster).
From where he was raised all these critters were larger and a person could
eat them. He decided to try and use each one as bait to see if he could
catch bigger fish. As he reached on the ground to pick up the very small
lobster he still heard whispering so he picked up the one that made a
sound. To his amazement it had a woman’s head and in a small voice
said
‘Monsieur please do not harm me. If you do as I ask I will help
you find all the bait you need for the winter fishing and in spring a
delicious écrevisses to eat.’
Startled Grand Pere Jean could not speak at first, but then he agreed not to harm this small crawfish woman. As he placed her near the Bayou she gave him directions to an area in the marsh where the crawfish were as large as a small lobster.
She told him in winter they would be small and can be used as bait for
larger fish but by spring they would be large enough to boil in spicy
water and eat so he and his family would never be without food all year long. All he had to do is wait to spring when the larger swamp crawfish come out of their holes. Catch them in nets with old fish as bait and then boil them in salty spicy water for a good meal.

This Nephew is the story I was told as a child by a man who lived
both here along the Bayou and in Nova Scotia where crayfish are as large
as a mans arm. And still today our family can have a feast of these
small lobsters in the spring thanks to the directions of the Cajun
Mermaid and the waters of the Marsh. This also why we must protect the marsh as it provides us with food and protection from storms.

---

Cajun Mermaid shirts and gifts sold at Fig Street Studio- http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio/454180

Pink Lobster Shirt

Womans Pink Lobster Shirt- http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio.295552301

Fleur De Craw, Crawfish Fleur De Lis

Crawfish in shape of Fleur De Lis Shirt and more gifts at-http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio.255925778

Many Crawfish designs available at Fig Street Studio.

Bearded Clam Shirt

Comical bearded clam cartoon on shirt- http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio/452484

Got Crawfish? T Shirt

Got Crawfish ? by figstreetstudio

Many crawfish shirts at Fig Street Studio.