Protecting Virginia's Oysters from Maryland

The Chesapeake Bay's new oyster war?

Worried that Marylanders will buy up precious James River oyster seeds — juvenile oysters referred to as spat — Virginia regulators have taken the unusual step of capping the amount that watermen are allowed to sell. The move, unanimously approved last month by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, required an emergency amendment to a state law. It limits watermen to 40,000 bushels until Dec. 31 and 80,000 more in the new year.

Watermen seldom approach those harvest levels, said James Wesson, the commission's director of oyster restoration. But demand could grow, he said, because Maryland is investing in oyster aquaculture.

Noting the bay's oysters have been devastated by disease, pollution and overfishing, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley last year created a $2.2 million low-interest loan program to entice people into oyster farming.

There are few oyster hatcheries — places where baby oysters are grown and sold — in Maryland, said Karl Roscher, aquaculture director for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. As a result, attention turned to the James, the only area of the bay with plentiful seeds, he said.

In general, I'm opposed to moving wild oysters from place to place, even within the bay, because of the risk of spreading oyster diseases, and invasive species.  If they must be moved, the distance they are moved should be held to a minimum, say within a single tributary if possible.