In the 1600s, oysters in the Chesapeake Bay were so plentiful that these saltwater bivalve molluscs were filtering the bay's waters once a week.
As the Industrial Revolution kicked off new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to between 1820 and 1840, the number of Chesapeake oysters began to decline due to over-harvesting.
In the last several decades, public and private interests in reviving the bay have stabilized oyster populations, but, according to a new study, the population has collapsed.
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24 comments:
Here we go again , all BS , the oysters have been gone for many years . The political issues have ruined the entire Bay .
If you don't want to get drunk then STOP drinking , if you want more oysters then stop the harvesting .
Tell me again how eating something that is designed to clean the bay "naturally" can be good for human consumption?? Almost as smart as eating liver out of an animal.
Oysters also used to average half the size of a dinner plate.
C'mon man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man kills everything, don't need history to tell you that!
Too much fresh water this year has kept the size down and many died. Hope for next year.
This is very misleading and wrong. The previous Governor, O'Malley closed 70% of the best oyster beds to the water men and called them sanctuary's.With only 30% of the beds left and the same amount if not more harvesters and after 6 years now the water men are struggling to catch their limits. The state of Md is complicit in this and I believe the ultimate goal is to shut it down.Maryland charges a $1.00/bushel oyster tax to replenish the shells and ceased( to the detriment of the industry) but still take the $. There were plenty of oysters before the sanctuary's. Virginia with the same bay is producing 3 times more oysters than Md because they rotate the oyster beds and and put down the shucked shell. Maryland needs to follow the Virginia model and rotate the sanctuary's. The oysters are getting to large on the sanctuary's for the market and dieing. I believe this is politically motivated.The Chesapeake Bay foundation is just trying to stay relevant . There are plenty of crabs and rock fish in the bay and the water is clean.We dont need the CBF anymore as all they do is indoctrinate young children and spread donations to each other through various grants and board positions.
2 word solution: aqua-culture
As with anything, there must be an incentive to invest back into your business. Most oyster and crab fisherman take, but do not have the means to grow their own. If the bay is going to sustain crab and oyster fishing with little or no fisheries, then the numbers will continue to dwindle.
I keep getting mail begging for money to help save the bay but it's the politicians who are the reason the bay is in bad shape. Those very politicians who claim to be environmentalists cater to the wishes of a few watermen who are raping the bay.If they REALLY want to save the bay then a good first step would to stop ALL oyster harvesting for about 30 years or more. Buy back the oyster licenses and the oyster processing licenses. As far as the oyster schuckers go that is a seasonal job and they could be taken care of on a limited basis for a limited time. I realize that is just wishful thinking but somebody better be thinking about it before it's too late. Also some of those same watermen could be hired to harvest some oysters for relocation to start new oyster beds. Just my 2cents.
Same idiots that don't understand why DNR busts people for overfishing and overharvesting. They don't care about future generations, they just want to make a buck.
With warming temps and sea level rise those poor communities like Crisfield and inbred island will be under water before they know it.
No one eats the bay oysters anymore anyway.. the only ones I request come from Cape Charles from the ocean side back bays along the atlantic...
Anonymous said...
This is very misleading and wrong. The previous Governor, O'Malley closed 70% of the best oyster beds to the water men and called them sanctuary's.With only 30% of the beds left and the same amount if not more harvesters and after 6 years now the water men are struggling to catch their limits. The state of Md is complicit in this and I believe the ultimate goal is to shut it down.Maryland charges a $1.00/bushel oyster tax to replenish the shells and ceased( to the detriment of the industry) but still take the $. There were plenty of oysters before the sanctuary's. Virginia with the same bay is producing 3 times more oysters than Md because they rotate the oyster beds and and put down the shucked shell. Maryland needs to follow the Virginia model and rotate the sanctuary's. The oysters are getting to large on the sanctuary's for the market and dieing. I believe this is politically motivated.The Chesapeake Bay foundation is just trying to stay relevant . There are plenty of crabs and rock fish in the bay and the water is clean.We dont need the CBF anymore as all they do is indoctrinate young children and spread donations to each other through various grants and board positions.
November 29, 2018 at 10:36 AM
Hmmm... Smart guy!
Anonymous said...
I keep getting mail begging for money to help save the bay but it's the politicians who are the reason the bay is in bad shape. Those very politicians who claim to be environmentalists cater to the wishes of a few watermen who are raping the bay.If they REALLY want to save the bay then a good first step would to stop ALL oyster harvesting for about 30 years or more. Buy back the oyster licenses and the oyster processing licenses. As far as the oyster schuckers go that is a seasonal job and they could be taken care of on a limited basis for a limited time. I realize that is just wishful thinking but somebody better be thinking about it before it's too late. Also some of those same watermen could be hired to harvest some oysters for relocation to start new oyster beds. Just my 2cents.
November 29, 2018 at 11:07 AM
It's not the politicians.
How much of the donations to Left Wing Cults like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation actually go to cleaning the bay? Probably less than 10%. Quit donating to them and quit listening to their tiring rants.
Anonymous said...
With warming temps and sea level rise those poor communities like Crisfield and inbred island will be under water before they know it.
November 29, 2018 at 11:14 AM
Here we go with that Left Wingnut Liberal Bullsh!t about climate change again. You dumba$$es crack me up. Do you know why the "island will be under water?" It's call erosion. It's natural ecology. Waves are normal and every time there is a wave it brings sand and sediment back out to the bay or ocean. Eventually, in time the waves will relocate the sand. The sand is always shifting and the Islands in the Bay are nothing but large sandbars. Get an education before you run your mouth.
Allowing the private sector to harvest and sell the state's natural resources, with few limits, seems to always result in over harvesting. Oysters, crabs, rockfish, trout, etc. all have been decimated by watermen time and time again. And the incentive for them to over harvest goes up as the supply goes down. The more they deplete the natural resource, the more money they make. They all would like to be the one to catch the last rockfish, crabs, trout, or whatever, as the last onse will fetch the highest price. I hate to admit it, but heavy taxation of these resources, either on the watermen, or the consumer, is the best way to preserve the natural resources, and keep the fisheries productive. Tax them high enough, and demand will go down, saving the fisheries from the greed of the watermen.
November 29, 2018 at 6:07 PM:
Talk about needing to get an education! You are clueless about cause and effect. You obviously have no scientific background, and have made clear that you do not know that the islands and bayside communities are sinking under ever rising sea levels. There is plenty of scientific data available for you to peruse if you were so inclined. Yes there is erosion in places that have never seen it before, and at rate never seen before, due to the rising sea levels that are measured using very, very accurate satellite measurements. Rising sea levels are undeniable to the informed. They are only deniable to uninformed. The cause for the rising sea levels is debatable, but the fact it is happening is not. You can put all the riprap you want around those islands in the bay, and you will stop the erosion, but not the rising water levels. Those islands are going to be under water someday. There is no stopping Mother Nature. I am always amazed at how the uninformed think they are so smart (and call the educated dumba$$es).
My family is from Tangier. I take offense to your stupid comment. You're just being an anonymous ass. If that makes you feel good, maybe you need to check your own family "stick". Obviously, not branched out to be called a family tree.
Actually, 6:07, The people who are living it states that the island is sinking. Water levels have been stable. This is from Tangier's mayor. Don't be so quick to insult people if you are even more ignorant.
Demand will always outpace availability.
It seems the pollution heading down the bay from Conowango Damn is once again being overlooked. Oh, and how about the millions and millions of gallons of illegal under-treated discharge from government run water treatment plants that get dumped into the Bay and it's tributaries. Blaming the watermen shifts the public focus from were it should be.
Every time the Connawingo Dam is open it sends fresh water and sediment...in addition to pollutants into the bay. Research it. This practice is very hard on oysters and the bay. Perhaps another solution needs to be found for the water being drained from the CD.
Yes the watermen, MDs most endangered species, are trying to scrape out a living. Why would the overharvest and kill their livelihood? Maybe because they actual know and understand the ecology of the bay better then all the "scientist". For years the state did not follow their mandate to return a percentage of shell to the oyster "rocks". And then to allow patent tonging which just rips up the bottom. Do you really thing hand tonging and sail dredging are the ruination of the industry which survived for hundreds of years under these harvesting methods? There are less watermen now then ever. Learn the difference between public rock and private beds, understand the harvest methods before you go blaming the watermen for everything.
The islands in the bay are sinking. It is called rebounding and they have been sinking since the end of the ice age. Combined with erosion is the vast majority of the reason for the islands demise. Rising sea levels only play a very small part.
Just doesn't get the headlines that rising sea levels do.
Call it what it truly is, greed. Every back woods waterman wanna be takes any and all they can get their hands on. And now you have all the illegals literally by the boat loads out on the waterways pillaging all the natural resources they come across. Check your DNR reporrs of these idiots taking hundreds of our of season fish, and underside fish as well.
December 2, 2018 at 2:14 PM
Why would the(sic) overharvest and kill their livelihood?
Why? Because the more they harvest, they more money they make. Short term greed and competition keeps them from considering the long term effects of their short term business practices. And THAT's why only government regulation will make the watermen do what is in the fisheries best interest.
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