Rain closes just-reopened oyster season in South Mississippi

State Department of Marine Resources officials said oyster season will close at 4 p.m. Friday and it will remain closed until further notice.

The closed reefskan:

Area II "A" -- This area includes northern portions of the Pass Christian and Henderson Point reefs and Hornets Reef.

Area II "B" -- This area includes the Waveland and St. Stanislaus reefs.

Area II "D" -- This area includes the public reefs in St. Louis Bay between the U.S. 90 bridge and the CSX railroad bridge.

Area II "E" -- This area includes Square Handkerchief Reef and southern portions of Henderson Point reef.

Area II "F" -- This area includes southern portions of the Pass Christian Reef.

The season is closing due to the excessive rainfall, which will cause the Pearl River to flood, creating an excessive amount of bacteria from too much fresh water.

The season had recently reopened after being closed since Dec. 11 when a red tide algae outbreak was discovered. The first reefs were reopened March 3.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Rain closes just-reopened oyster season in South Mississippi ."