Saturday, June 15, 2013

Stop Killing Oysters!

Restricting Fishing at Chesapeake Bay could Help Restore Oyster Population, Researchers Say
In the new study, researchers from University of Maryland Center looked at various oyster restoration strategies to see which ones could have a positive impact on oyster population.

"This new model we developed suggests that oysters should be able to come back if we help them out by reducing fishing pressure and improving their habitat," said Michael Wilberg of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, lead author of the study.
Wow, what a contra-sensical  result! Imagining that not killing the few oysters that remain (or in this case, the much less dramatic step of killing a few less) would actually be good for the population.

As I've been saying for years now.  Ban oyster harvesting in the Bay for 5 years (or even ten), and see if they have made significant recovery.  If not, go ahead and plant foreign species (C. ariakensis for example).

1 comment:

  1. Your solution is 1) Too logical, 2) Will not make money for the party in power and 3) Does not in any way seem to blame anthropogenic global warming for the decline in oysters.

    I therefor conclude that you are not offering a serious solution to the problem.

    ReplyDelete