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GLOUCESTER

Or at least they used to. For centuries in Virginia, the coming of cold weather and the "r" months traditionally meant fresh oysters on the half shell and oysters roasted, fried, and stewed. It also meant money time for the Chesapeake Bay's oyster industry and the thousands of watermen, shuckers, packing houses, wholesalers, and retailers it once employed.

But native Chesapeake Bay oysters and the people who profit from them have endured hard times in recent decades. Historic overharvesting dating from a century ago destroyed the bay's natural oyster reefs, and in recent decades pollution and disease have left only 1 percent to 2 percent of the oysters that once lived in the bay.

This not only was a tragedy for the region's oyster industry and everyone who loves to slurp down the tasty Chesapeake bivalves; it also dealt the bay itself a major blow. Oysters filter the bay's water, naturally clearing it of algae, plankton, and detritus. An adult oyster can filter and clear 50 to 60 gallons of water a day. Scientists estimate oysters were once so widespread they could filter the entire quantity of water in the bay in just a few days. Today, so few oysters remain that the job would take more than a year, one reason why the bay's water has become so murky.

But there is exciting news on the oyster front.

Focused federal and state efforts to restore oyster reefs in the Great Wicomico River have shown remarkable success. Scientists at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science reported last summer that manmade reefs in the Great Wicomico are alive with millions of 4- and 5-year-old oysters and a menagerie of other animals and plants.

A collaboration of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, VIMS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission is showing real promise to boost the oyster population and the public fishery in the Piankatank River.

Another collaborative effort by CBF, Lynnhaven River Now, Oyster Reef Keepers of Virginia, the city of Virginia Beach, the Army Corps, NOAA, VMRC, VIMS, and volunteer "oyster gardeners" has transformed the Lynnhaven River into a local oyster factory. Oysters reproduce so prodigiously their offspring cover jetties and pilings, commercial watermen raise and sell Lynnhaven oysters to local markets again, and water quality has improved sufficiently that the Virginia Department of Health has declared more than a third of the Lynnhaven River safe for shellfishing.

Equally exciting is that the Lynnhaven's oysters are thriving in the southern, relatively saltier part of the Chesapeake Bay, where oyster diseases typically are more deadly. While diseases still regularly take their toll on the Lynnhavens, a balance seems to have been established between reproduction and mortality that now sustains a stable oyster population. The nearby Elizabeth River also has a remarkably robust oyster population, and oysters near the mouth of the Rappahannock River seem to have developed increasing disease tolerance.

AQUACULTURE SUCCESS

The most promising news, however, is oyster aquaculture, and it is pointing the way toward a revived oyster industry in the Chesapeake. Aquaculture--growing oysters from seed to market size in protective cages or other gear--is proving to be a practical, profitable way for watermen to continue making a living on the water. Scores of watermen and private growers today are successfully raising Chesapeake oysters and selling them to processors and restaurants across the country. Public and private grants are helping more Virginians get started, and aquaculture is providing genuine hope and real dollars for water-dependent communities like Tangier Island.

While the news about oysters is good, it must be noted that bay oyster restoration is relatively new--only about 20 years old--and all involved are learning as we go how best to restore a species it took more than a century to decimate. There have been setbacks--for example, the persistence of oyster diseases or the predation by cow-nose rays--and there will be more, but progress and successes are undeniable.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for success, however, lies with our elected leaders in Congress and passage of the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act. This landmark federal legislation would establish bay cleanup standards, then challenge Virginia and the other bay states to meet them by 2025--with incentives such as more than $2 billion in federal grants and a regional private-market approach to pollution reduction. The legislation also would, for the first time, set firm deadlines and establish real consequences if actions are not taken to restore the bay.

Co-sponsored by Virginia Reps. Gerry Connolly, James Moran, and Bobby Scott, the legislation deserves the support of every Virginia member of Congress. The future of the bay, oysters, and the oyster industry may depend upon it.

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