MD Declares Oysters Recovering

Chesapeake Bay oyster appears to be in recovery mode

Virginia and Maryland officials recently gave welcome news for everyone concerned with the fate of the iconic bivalve, a once abundant and precious resource that helped shape the identities of the states and provided a way of life for watermen.

Virginia harvested only 79,600 bushels of oysters in 2005 but racked up 236,200 last year, the most since 1989. Maryland had only 26,400 bushels in 2005 but hauled in 121,200 last year.

More than half of Virginia’s increase came from private aquaculture. Officials in both states said the fall stock surveys that assess the population also were promising last year.

I love the graphic kindly provided by the Washington Post, it's right out of the first chapter of "How to Lie with Statistics", the quintessential  book on statistical skullduggery.  But, do you think they could have squeezed the data vertically by another two or so?

Really, the effect still shows how badly off the oyster is, a mere fraction of what it has been in reasonable historical times. 

“It’s good news,” said Mike Naylor, director of the shellfish program for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “But don’t get excited.”

I like Mike (psst, don't tell him, it'll go to his head), and he's the perfect person to put in charge of a nearly hopeless task.  Give him a lance and point him at those windmills.

I would prefer that the harvest be zero for this year, and the next four or so (for Maryland too) while oysters get a chance to find out it they can rebound in the absence of fishing.  But the chances of this happening are approximately the same as the oysters rebounding to 1958-1959 levels during that period.