Five months after Jefferson Parish officials launched an effort to support the oyster industry on Grand Isle, the seafood farming operation on the barrier island is set to double in size and cage-grown Louisiana oysters are starting to gain traction in restaurants across the South.

The Grand Isle Port Commission will be opening a second zone for oyster farming at the end of the year, which will increase the area dedicated to the industry from 13 acres to 27 acres, the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission said Thursday. Some of the farmers currently leasing the existing acreage will have more water for their businesses, while some new farmers will join the cohort.

The expansion is a sign that the environmentally adapted method of rearing oysters is gaining regional traction, a

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