Introducing the Asian Oyster to the Chesapeake Bay

Historically the Chesapeake Bay has been known for its oysters. The average catch from the 1950s to the 1970s,according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, was 25 million pounds. Today it has dropped to two percent of this. Not only does this affect the fishermen whose livelihood is harvesting oysters but they are also a keystone species. The oysters filter the bay's water as they feed off the algae. Other marine life depend on the oysters for food and habitat as well. The native oyster's alarming population levels have caused many involved with the Chesapeake Bay to look for some solution.

The Virginia Institue of Marine Science (VIMS) began to study non-native oyster species to introduce into the Bay. The aisan species, Suminoe oyster (C. ariakensis) was determined to be the best option to introduce to the Chesapeake Bay. Interest began to grow and many groups including government agencies and interest groups became concerned about problems associated with introducing a non-native species. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was put in charge of producing an Environmental Impact Statement. After years of research no decision was made. The Army Corps decided that while the asian oysters may thrive in the Bay, they could also multiply rapidly enough to cause the extinction of the native species.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation came out strongly against introducing a non-native species. They believe that the best option for the Bay is to restore the native species. Non-native species can not be expected to fix the problem completley. Three options are to not introduce the species at all, have open-watered aquaculture of sterilized oysters and third to release reproducing non-native oysters. In my opinion simply not introducing the new species would not solve any part of the problem. Fishermen would suffer, and the conditions of the BAy would not improve. However putting the non-native species into the Bay without any restrictions raises too many questions. I think the best option at this point is to raise sterile oysters in open-water aquacultures. This prevents the non-native oysters release into the Bay. It also allows more time for studies to be done on the oyster and to try to improve populations of native oysters. As of now, there are too many un-answered questions to put the non-native asian oyster into the bay.