Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Southern Mississippi Starts Construction on Oyster Hatchery

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/22/25

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) recently announced that construction has begun on a new oyster hatchery at its Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center (TCMAC) Cedar Point campus in Ocean Springs, Miss., according to a news release. The facility was designed to address declining oyster harvests along the Gulf Coast, and it has an estimated completion date of late summer or early fall 2026.

According to university news, the new facility will be capable of producing up to a billion eyed larvae per year to use in research and restoration. The hatchery will use a recirculating, closed system isolated from the outside environment to create ideal research conditions, allowing experiments regarding larviculture, disease, genetis, and reproduction to be observed and replicated.

The university partnered with state and federal agencies to secure $14 million from the Mississippi Legislature and the RESTORE Act between 2016 and 2020.

“We are excited to finally have this project underway. We thank MDEQ and the state for their commitment to this project and for seeing it through the long path it’s taken,” said Dr. Reginald Blaylock, TCMAC director. “We are confident that the research done in this new hatchery will expand opportunities in the oyster industry for both public and private stakeholders.”

During the last two decades, Mississippi has seen its oyster population decline due to factors like disease, extreme weather, overharvesting, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and more. In 2004, 500,000 sacks of oysters were harvested from the state’s public reefs; it harvested zero sacks in 2019.

“The new oyster hatchery and research center will further GCRL’s mission of advancing scientific discovery to benefit society and enable us to be a continued resource for the state,” said Dr. Kelly Darnell, GCRL director. “This state-of-the-art facility will allow our researchers and students to develop and test new and innovative technologies and achieve even greater advances in aquaculture.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California Middle School Breaks Ground on Major Renovation Project

    The Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) in Hillsborough, Calif., recently began construction on new multipurpose and administration facilities for Crocker Middle School, according to a news release.

  • Porter Family Center

    Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Porter Family Center for Innovation and Academics has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Fellowes Expands Finish and Wall-Covering Options for Architectural Wall Systems

    Fellowes Architectural Solutions has expanded the materials library for its architectural wall systems with a series of new finishes and wall-covering options intended to provide architects and designers with additional choices for commercial interiors, according to a company news release.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.