Mobile Baykeeper

Your local leaders need to hear that you want healthier growth that protects our waters and way of life.

Tomorrow night, the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission is holding a meeting to discuss the Draft Master Plan 2026. This plan will determine the county's future growth and its impact on our waterways.

Show up to the meeting and ask that Baldwin County do more to protect the health of our waters.

Baldwin County Central Annex Auditorium
22251 Palmer St, Robertsdale, AL
Thursday, August 6th
4 PM

Read the full Draft Master Plan 2026 at https://baldwincountyal.gov/departments/planning-zoning

Can't make the meeting? Send your commissioner a letter. We've drafted one on your behalf: https://baldwincountysmartgrowth.com/

Thank you to G.U.M.B.O for advocating for the health of our waters.

As many travel to Alabama’s coast for conferences and vacations before school begins, groups like the Gulf United Metro Business Organization (GUMBO) understand how our waters provide for all of us, and why they must be protected.

Read GUMBO's full letter to Senator Britt athttps://mobilebaykeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GUMBO-Letter.pdf

Join GUMBO in writing Senator Britt to thank her for her support and ask her to ban mud dumping in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). https://mobilebaykeeper.org/dredge-spoil/

Win two tickets to see Jack Johnson at The Wharf on August 26th.

Jack Johnson has spent years using his tours to support environmental action. Through his All At Once campaign, he connects concertgoers with local nonprofit organizations working to protect the places they call home. Mobile Baykeeper will be at the concert as part of that effort, helping fans learn how they can defend the waters of Coastal Alabama.

Enter for your chance to win two tickets and join a growing community defending the waters that define our way of life.

Enter to win at https://mobilebaykeeper.org/jack-johnson-ticket-giveaway/

Home Mobile Baykeeper fights to protect Mobile Bay, the Delta, and the Gulf Coast. From oyster reefs to clean water, we defend Alabama's coastal way of life.

This summer, communities across Coastal Alabama stepped up for healthier waterways, smarter growth, and a stronger future for the place we call home.

Folks showed up at town halls. Communities spoke up about flooding, sewage spills, and unhealthy waterways. Residents helped shape Smart Growth regulation recommendations designed to protect the quality of life that makes Coastal Alabama special.

Now it’s time to come together and celebrate the people carrying this work forward.

Join Baykeeper on August 8th for the Members Only Beach Bash at Heron Pointe at The Wharf.

Mark your calendar and invite somebody who cares about the future of these waters.

Donate today to join us at the Beach Bash.

https://mobilebaykeeper.org/memberdrive

Down here, seafood is part of our culture. Families gather around shrimp boils. Folks debate who has the best gumbo. Entire communities still make a living from local seafood.

That’s why Baykeeper helped push for Alabama’s seafood labeling law requiring grocery stores and restaurants to clearly label whether seafood is domestic or imported.

Because you deserve to know where your seafood comes from. And local fishermen deserve a fair shot to compete. ⁠

That victory happened because communities spoke up for the waters, fisheries, and traditions that make Coastal Alabama special. But it's not enough. Some commercial vendors have already found a loophole to not share where their seafood comes from.

Protecting our fisheries and way of life takes people willing to keep showing up for the place they call home. Give today to strengthen the laws for equal footing for our fishermen.

https://mobilebaykeeper.org/memberdrive

Since the 1950s, it is estimated that Mobile Bay has lost roughly 85 percent of its oyster population. Mobile Baykeeper's Holistic Oyster Restoration Project, run by our own Dr. Kayla Boyd, aims to restore our oystery with the help of agency groups and wild oyster men like Michael Williams, who lives on Heron Bay, a body of water that supplied oysters for Native American tribes for thousands of years.

It’s a mild day in the middle of April, and we’re on Heron Bay in Michael’s motorized flatboat, navigating through the marshes and tidal creeks, which today are brimming with shrimp and redfish. Michael proudly calls this his “backyard,” as you can see his house on the Bay from where we sit. Heron Bay lies just west of the Dauphin Island causeway, near Cedar Point, right before you hit the bridge that takes you to the island. The area is a pristine stretch of coastal marsh and maritime forest that runs just shy of 500 acres...Heron Bay feels like a sanctuary from the threats that plague so much of the watershed, and one can’t help but think that more of our waters should look like this, if only the effort was made. “This is what the rest of our waters could look like if we took care of it,” Michael says.

Read the full summer 2026 cover story from CURRENTS magazine at https://mobilebaykeeper.org/ancient-ways/

Image and text: Caine O'Rear

Folks across Coastal Alabama have made one thing clear. They want growth that protects the places they call home. They want stronger infrastructure before neighborhoods flood again. They want healthier waterways that families can still fish, swim, and boat in. They want development that keeps pace with the communities growing around it.

That’s why Baykeeper developed a Smart Growth Policy Blueprint shaped by community input and science. And now, commissioners need to hear loud and clear that residents support healthier growth for Coastal Alabama.

This is not about stopping growth. It’s about making sure future generations inherit communities and waterways that are stronger than the ones we have today.

Send a message to your commissioner today: baldwincountysmartgrowth.com

Meet Jackie Wilson, the owner of Bama Bay Oyster Farm, LLC. , the only female-owned and operated oyster farm in Alabama.

In Mobile Bay, oysters are more than seafood. They are part of the culture and the way people make a living. Farmers like Jackie spend their days raising the oysters that grow in these waters.

"I grew up half a mile from here [Bama Bay]. I can see my grandfather’s house from here, where my parents live now. I joke all the time that I wasn’t born but that I walked out of this muddy water, and that it literally shaped who I am. There is not a day that goes by without me looking at this water or touching it." - Jackie Wilson.

We partner with local farms like Bama Bay to grow oysters that can be used in restoration projects across the Bay. These oysters help seed reefs that filter pollution from the water, provide habitat for fish and crabs, and strengthen our coastal ecosystem.

We are grateful for farmers like Jackie who lend their knowledge of the water and help us grow oysters for restoration.

Learn more about our oyster restoration work: https://mobilebaykeeper.org/oyster-farm-project/