A Pearl of an Oyster Harvest

 

"Oh oysters come and walk with us, the walrus did beseech," or so it says in the book Alice in Wonderland. But the oysters — wisely — turned the walrus down.

Until recently, scientists on the Chesapeake have been making the same request, with the same response. This year, though, the oyster population finally agreed to cooperate. The result: a significant increase in the population of oysters along the Virginia shore.

The secret to this success, say scientists at William and Mary, is artificial reefs. Created five years ago, a set of large experimental reefs resulted in an oyster crop of 180 million native oysters. Of course this is just a start: 100 years ago, fishermen could expect to harvest 25 million bushels per year.

But according to an article in the New York Times, the success of the experimental reefs suggest the possibility of a return to the oyster-rich past. Thousands of permanent reefs could do it. Once in place, the oyster population would do much more than taste terrific: They would also help to clean the bay the filtering water — and at the same time they'd provide safe haven for tiny fish, crabs and other marine life.