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Sep. 2003 · Volume 1 Number 3

Volume 1 Number 3

Does the Bay Need a New Oyster?

A New Oyster for the Bay?

Merrill Leffler

It is because of the inability so far to restore sustainable native oyster populations or to successfully cultivate them that watermen and processors are calling for, if not demanding, introduction of a non-native species - the Suminoe or Chinese oyster. Given the state of the native oyster, the question of whether or not - let alone how - to introduce a new species to the Chesapeake is one that poses complex challenges that have ecological and social implications. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Merrill Leffler. more . . .

Summary of Field Trial - C. ariakensis vs. C. virginica

Profile

MSX, which is caused by Haplosporidium nelsoni, is present throughout Virginia's portion of the Bay - in years of low rainfall such as the last several, higher salinities push further up the Bay into Maryland waters as does MSX virulence. The disease is often deadly above 15-20 parts per thousand salt (ocean water is 32 ppt). Dermo disease is the result of Perkinsus marinus, a protozoan like MSX, it has long been a resident in the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, though over the years it has spread along the east coast and caused havoc to oyster fisheries there and elsewhere. Whether Dermo entered the Chesapeake with oysters originally brought in from the south is unknown. Regardless of how it arrived, it now persists on most public oyster grounds throughout the Bay. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Merrill Leffler. more . . .

Et Cetera

Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receive support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Merrill Leffler. more . . .

Calendar

Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receive support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Merrill Leffler. more . . .