This is good news for avid consumers of oysters -- and if the growth can be sustained, also for the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. I still don't exactly know how these oysters are not being affected by the diseases that drastically reduced the Bay's oyster populations, other than natural selection for disease resistance. But perhaps that will be enough. The Bay just needs more time, and less pressure from humankind, to get cleaner and healthier.
Survey: Maryland oyster population makes gains
The article lead:
"Maryland’s oyster population has more than doubled since 2010 due to high oyster survival over the past few years and strong reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the state’s 2013 fall oyster survey. The survey released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said the oyster population is at its highest point since this type of monitoring began in 1985."
The article also says that harvest was about 400,000 bushels. Which makes me wonder how much faster the oysters would recover -- and there would be much bigger harvests -- if we stopped harvesting them and gave them a few years to just grow and grow and grow.
Hmm...
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