Posted under Chesapeake Bay
Yesterday, Maryland, Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided against importing Asian oysters into the Chesapeake Bay. It was thought that the heartier species of oysters might help revive the oyster population in Bay, which has declined to just 1% of its historic peak. The problem, according to the parties involved, was introducing the foreign species created “unacceptable ecological risks.”
The Washington Post has the details:
Yesterday’s decision followed a five-year study of the Asian oyster that cost federal and state authorities $17 million. The idea was to base the decision on science instead of politics.
It didn’t work.
The study could not solve the most important questions: If the Asian oyster were raised at controlled shellfish farms, what was the chance that it would escape and reproduce in the open water? And if it did, would it find a healthy niche in the ecosystem, as the smallmouth bass has in the Potomac River? Or would it become a threatening invasive species, a snakehead with a shell?
“The problem is, with all of this, that you don’t really know until you do the experiment,” said Roger Mann, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “Once you’ve done it, it’s too late.”
Ultimately, the episode shows that the only way the shellfish population is going to recover is if we take the steps necessary to improve the health of the Bay. Right now, there is simply too much nutrient pollution from agriculture, wastewater treatment plants, septic tanks, stormwater runoff and other sources to support a healthy echo systems.
Comments Off
