Scientists to Study Nonnative Oysters in Chesapeake Bay

June 6, 2005 -- A 30-month study by researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the University of Maryland will examine how Asian oysters grow and survive in the Chesapeake Bay. Introducing nonnative species to the bay has been proposed as a solution to the decline in the native oyster population, which was caused by overharvesting, diseases, and pollution.

Scientists want to see how the Asian oysters compete with native oysters, whether they survive diseases that have ravaged the native stocks, and how they fare amid predators in a real-world setting at the bottom of the bay. Nonreproductive Asian oysters will be in cages at four sites -- two in Maryland and two in Virginia. The study is expected to begin this month and run through October 2007.

A National Research Council report, Nonnative Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, said that proposals to offset the dramatic decline of native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay by introducing a reproductive population of the Asian species should be delayed until more is known about the potential environmental risks.

• Nonnative Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay (2004)

• VIMS on Nonnative Oysters: Crassostrea Ariakensis
• Maryland Sea Grant: Oysters & the Chesapeake