McHale 1

Cassidy McHale
Dave Harper
English 101-102
October 28, 2014
Eastern Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay: Bivalves in Need
When tourists visit Maryland, theyre always told they need to have some of the
famous blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. But we have more than crabs. We have
oysters too! Theyre the second most popular food here in Maryland. Unfortunately, our
posterity may not have the option to sit down and scarf a plate of eastern oysters. The
eastern oyster (crassostrea virginica) is a troubled mollusk in the Chesapeake Bay. Due to
overharvesting, disease, and habitat destruction, the oysters of the Chesapeake Bay are
quickly disappearing. Efforts are being made to help replenish the populations of eastern
oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. After all, conserving the oyster population in the
Chesapeake Bay is essential to the health of the bay.
Eastern oysters play an essential role in the Chesapeake Bay. They are a type of
bivalve mollusk. Growing up to 10 cm in length, this pear-shaped animal feeds by
sucking in water, filtering out the nutrients, and expelling the water. A single oyster can
filter 55 gallons of water a day. This way of nourishing plays a vital role in the health of
the Chesapeake Bay. By filtering out harmful nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and
even algae, oysters are cleansing the water. (Beacham 2001) The article Oyster
Aquaculture Could Combat Potomac River Pollution by Bricker, Rice, and Bricker
explains this process in the Potomac River:

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Excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus can fuel growth of algae blooms,
which block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses and create low-oxygen
dead zones that suffocate marine life. While filter-feeding oysters were once
plentiful in the river capable of removing nutrients from the water their
numbers have dropped due to overfishing. (Bricker)
As you can see, this way of filter-feeding is extremely beneficial to the
Chesapeake Bay. In the early 1880s when the oyster population was at its highest
recorded count, water quality was stupendous. Unfortunately, as oyster demand grew,
they were being harvested faster than they could reproduce. The smaller population size
resulted in lower quality water.
Formerly known as Chesapeake Gold, eastern oysters used to be ridiculously
abundant in the Chesapeake Bay. Some piles of oysters would be so tall that they would
break the surface of the on average thirty foot deep water of the Chesapeake Bay.
How It Used to Be an informative article from the Oysters For the Bay restoration
organization explains that in 1884 the average annual harvest for oysters was 15
million bushels while the average in 2010 was a harvest of 185, 245 bushels. That is
approximately a 98% drop in oyster counts in 126 years. If we were to keep harvesting
oysters at that pace and cease restoration efforts, we would deplete the oyster population
in the Chesapeake Bay in two years.
Overharvesting is one of the main causes of oyster depletion. In the late 1880s to
early 1900s, it was a sort of free-for-all-keep-what-you-want deal. Now that we know the
damage weve done to the oyster populations, harvesting eastern oysters is hugely
restricted. Due to restoration efforts, oystermen must follow strict guidelines. The

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guidelines include harvesting only from October to March, any kept oysters must be
longer than three inches, and oysters must be landed after sunrise or at least two hours
before sunset and other various time-related guidelines (Commercial Regulations 2014).
The times youre allowed to harvest and the amount youre allowed to keep vary at each
oyster landing in the Chesapeake Bay. Overharvesting of oysters causes severe damage to
the ecosystem. As stated before, oysters filter water and create habitat for other aquatic
species. They also attract hungry tourists from around the nation. Overharvesting directly
causes damage to water quality, tourism revenue and aquatic habitat.
Another issue oysters face is disease. The main diseases causing significant
oyster count drops are MSX (multinucleated sphere unknown) and Dermo
(dermocystidium marinum). MSX is a single-celled Protozoan parasite (Sunila 1).
Known to not be lethal to humans, MSX is, however, deadly for oysters; often killing
them in a months time. Sunila explains further that the infection spreads to the digestive
diverticulum, and finally all the tissues of the oyster are filled with plasmodia. Dermo is
an intercellular parasite caused by a single-celled protozoan parasite. Dermo affects the
blood cells. Also harmless to humans, Dermo has been known to cause massive
mortalities in oysters. Infecting an oysters blood, Dermo effectively decomposes the live
oyster from the inside out. Starting in the blood and spreading through the entire oyster,
Dermo eventually makes its way to the tissue and muscle of the oyster. (Sunila)
Combining the effects of overharvesting and disease, eastern oyster populations
have succumbed to dramatic loss. While water quality and habitat loss also assist in the
destruction of this species, disease and overharvesting are the biggest issues eastern

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oysters face. Fortunately, overharvesting is something we can fix. Multiple plans are in
motion to reduce overharvesting and promote oyster restoration.
One of the most effective ways biologists are attempting to replenish oyster
populations is through oyster farms and sanctuaries. Oyster specimens are taken from the
healthiest part of the bay and put into tanks. The oysters are then nourished, matured,
mated and released back into the bay usually on large concrete slabs where they are
needed for water filtration. The oysters then clean up the surrounding water and are able
to reproduce. One of the most prominent oyster farms in the Chesapeake area is True
Chesapeake Oyster Co.. Known mainly for growing delectable, mouth-watering oysters,
True Chesapeake Oyster Co. is also involved in the oyster restoration movement. True
Chesapeake Oyster Co. offers a service for $500 to pier owners. They will bring a cage
full of juvenile oysters to be raised and matured under your pier. Once the oysters are old
enough to reproduce, they are sent to a sanctuary. A sanctuary is a place in the
Chesapeake Bay for the oysters to thrive and reproduce safely, without the possibility of
being harvested by oystermen. Oyster farms and sanctuaries are the key to significant
oyster replenishment. According to both Chesapeake Oyster Co. and Oysters For The
Bay, we have the ability to spawn more oysters than are being overharvested. The only
issue is the cost of such restoration movements.
While restoring oyster populations is obviously an important task, some people
beg to differ. The Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery: Native Oyster Restoration Master
Plan lays out the information on the projected costs for the restoration efforts. The total
costs for running this plan would cost somewhere between $980 million and $3.2 billion
annually (USACE 176). To run a project that encompasses all of the oysters in all of the

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Chesapeake Bay takes time, money, and resources some people believe should be spent
on more major things. Those major things mostly include road repair and government
building construction. I understand the logic behind that thinking; however, restoring the
Chesapeake Bay to its former glory is much more crucial. If the Chesapeake Bay was
healthy wed have better seafood, and a safer place for activities such as swimming,
boating, and water sports. Having enough oysters to keep the bay clean could be a boost
to tourism. Cleaner water is clearer water. Sandy Point State Park, for example, would get
more traffic if the water in the bay was clear and beautiful; effectively making more
money for the county through tourism via a clean bay. A clean bay also constitutes a
healthier watershed. In turn, a healthier watershed puts out cleaner water to farm
irrigation systems and a better place for other animals to not only survive, but thrive.
Eastern oysters in the Chesapeake Bay are much more important than most people
think. They are vital to the health of the bay and effectively the health of the people and
economy around the bay. Even though disease, overharvesting, water quality, and habitat
loss are significant threats to oysters, I fully believe that if we continue our work with
oyster restoration, farms and sanctuaries, we can bring back the piles upon piles of
healthy eastern oysters. If we continue caring about our bay and the health of it and its
people, we can reclaim the clear and healthy bay that once was.

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Works Cited
Beacham, Walton. "Oyster Mussel." Beacham's Guide to the Endangered Species of
North America. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Print.
Bricker, S., K.C. Rice, and O.P. Bricker. "Oyster Aquaculture Could Combat Potomac
River Pollution." Chesapeake Bay Program. Springer, 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 3 Nov.
2014.<http://www.chesapeakebay.net/blog/post/oyster_aquaculture_could_comba
t_potomac_river_pollution>.
"Commercial Regulations" Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Maryland
Department of Natural Resources, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/regulations/table.asp?c=commercial>.
"How It Used To Be." Oysters for the Bay. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
<http://oystersforthebay.com/how-it-used-to-be/>.
Sunila, Inke. "Dermo Disease." Dermo Disease: 1. Connecticut Department of
Agriculture. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/aquaculture/dermo.pdf>.
Sunila, Inke. "MSX Disease." MSX Disease: 1. Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/aquaculture/msx.pdf>.
USACE. "Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery: Native Oyster Restoration Master
Plan." Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery: Native Oyster Restoration Master
Plan (2012): 176. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.chesapeakebay.net/channel_files/18195/cb_oystermasterplan_march
2012_low-res.pdf>.