How can humans intervene to restore to life a "Dead Zone" in a Coastal area?

Question

I live near Galveston TX which used to be teeming with sea life and sea gulls with the smell of the salt water ocean. Now, if going in the ocean there, the waves leave you gritty with a sort of sludgy look. No visible sea life. No sea gulls which have gone inland to search for food. What would it take to restore the Coastal area to LIFE?

Answer 1

stop farming in the central U.S.

the dead zone is mostly caused by fertilizer run off into the Ohio, Missouri & mississippi rivers.

its been growing larger because land that has lain fallow for years or has been planted in grass under the conservation reserve program has been plowed up & planted in corn as a result of the environment lobby's push for ethanol production.

the extra fertilizer causes an explosive growth in micro organisims which then quickly use up all the available oxygen in the water.

Answer 2

stop over fishing.

fish eat plankton.

of there is not fish to eat all the plankton it drops to the bottom and rots

this causes oxygen depletion and dead zones.

http://see-the-sea.org/topics/commerce/o...

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:MPp...

http://www.oceanicfisheries.net/overfish...

the biggest problem is that the US is not the ones overfishing the areas but most is due to foreign fishing fleets operating uncontrolled just outside US waters.

Answer 3

The Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico that you are referring to is caused by agricultural runoff that is transported down the Mississippi River and dumped into the Gulf. Humans on a governmental scale could stop giving subsidies to massive agribusiness corporations and industrial farms who are the primary cause of this situation. On the individual level, humans can do things that make themselves less reliant on the products that are produced by these mega farms. Local agriculture, organic produce, and reduced meat consumption are all individual actions that would create a slow shift towards a less desiccated Gulf Ecosystem.

Answer 4

Stop dumping fertilizers into our rivers that drain into the gulf.

The problem has no quick solution and is difficult to get public support because farmers arent willing to sacrifice crop yeilds for the good of our environment