Ship Island Project

Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program 

The Mississippi barrier islands are the first line of defense between t

he Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi mainland coast. 

The Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program (MsCIP) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project designed to bolster the natural protection of coastal Mississippi from major storms by rebuilding barrier islands severely eroded over the past few decades.

Reconnecting THE barrier

A key component of this program is reconnecting two gulf coast barrier islands located approximately 10 miles off the Mississippi mainland.  This component of the MsCIP is creating a single robust barrier island by connecting East and West Ship Islands into what was historically a single island, Ship Island.

Hopper dredges facilitated beach renourishment, digging in borrow areas, predetermined by the USACE as capable of providing ideal beach sediment. Sand is extracted from the borrow areas and pumped ashore to expand beaches.

SHIP ISLAND NATURAL STORM PROTECTION & EXPANDED HABITAT

Ship Island will be capable of providing natural protection for the coastal communities from storm damage, while at the same time creating significantly more sea turtle and shorebird nesting habitat than currently exists in Mississippi.

ReLoCation Trawling FOR Endangered

SPECIES

To reduce sea turtle mortality associated with hopper dredging operations, relocation trawling was performed during the entirety of the project. Trawlers tow nets in areas where dredging is actively or imminently occurring in order to proactively capture and relocate turtles safely away construction areas. Relocation trawling utilizes specialized nets and limited tow times to capture turtles are caught safely and relocated a minimum of 3 miles away from the active dredging sites.

ENDANGERED SPECIES Capture & safe Relocation

If a sea turtle is captured, it is brought on board and processed. This includes; a basic physical exam, the recording of standard measurements, specimen tagging by means of Inconel (if > 30cm CCL) and PIT tags (if no previous tags are found), photographs, and genetic biopsies. Once processed the turtle is relocated at least 3 miles away from any active borrow areas and released.

SuCCESSFUL Relocation of 380 Endangered Species

Between 24 November 2017 and 17 January 2019, two relocation trawlers operated a total of 688 days conducting 14,762 individual tows. These efforts resulted in 380 capture & relocation events, successfully moving 378 sea turtles out of harm’s way. Two sturgeon were also relocated on this project. Kemp’s Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys kempii, Lk) made up the majority, totaling 264 captures. Followed second by Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta, Cc) with 107, then Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas, Cm) with 6 and finally a single Leatherback  Turtles(Dermochelys coriacea, Dc). Of these captures, 9 were identified as males from indicative external features, while 59 were noted to have evidence of old, healed wounds. There were 23 total recaptures of turtles, 17 from within the project itself. Project recaptures intervals range from 2 to 304 days, with an average of 68 days.