Fast-growing, disease-resistant Asian oysters brought to the Chesapeake Bay could help restore the depleted oyster population — or they could pose grave risks for native oysters, a federal study found.
Introducing non-native oysters is just one option in a combination of possibilities Maryland and Virginia officials are considering.
“No singular alternative to date has been evaluated which would answer all the problems and needs identified for the Bay,” Mark Mansfield, chief of planning and programs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Norfolk District, said during a conference call Tuesday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia Marine Resources Commission released the draft of a highly anticipated report Tuesday detailing the impact of non-native oysters on the water quality, ecosystem and economics, among other factors.
The report, which outlined eight options, stopped short of making a single recommendation, awaiting feedback from the public. A 60-day comment period begins Friday.
Officials did narrow the focus to three possibilities:
• Expand efforts to restore the native oyster population, including having a temporary harvesting moratorium and cultivating or farming oysters;
• Expand native oyster restoration and introduce triploid (sterile) Suminoe oysters;
• Expand native oyster restoration and introduce triploid and diploid (reproductive) Suminoe oysters.
State and federal officials have been studying this issue for at least five years with the goal of restoring the population to the harvest levels seen between 1920 and 1970.
“The future of oyster restoration and management represents an incredibly complex challenge,” said Tom O’Connell, fisheries director at DNR.
Gov. Martin O’Malley said he is still concerned the risks of introducing the non-native oysters could outweigh the benefits.
“As we consider the options, we must first ensure we do no harm,” he said in a statement.
Overfishing and poor water quality has led to the dwindling of the Bay’s oysters to less than 1 percent of the abundance of the 1800s. More recently, two foreign diseases, known as Dermo and MSX, have wreaked havoc on the native Eastern oyster.
The Suminoe oysters, which are native to the China Sea, have shown to be resistant to these diseases and grow much faster, according to the report.
However, concerns remain about whether this oyster is more susceptible to other diseases or that they may migrate outside of the region, said Brian Rothschild, chairman of the independent advisory panel that reviewed the oyster research.
“The answer here is not a direct answer,” he said during the call.
“It’s a question of the risks that society sees in the introduction of the oysters.”
For more on this story, see the following:
www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/people/3_minutes_with_waterman_Larry_Simns_on_Oysters.html
www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/Scientists_warn_of_risks_in_nonnative_oyster_introduction.html
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