Book Description

"The native Chesapeake Bay oyster stocks and harvest are at their lowest level in history, and the Virginia oyster industry is being threatened with economic extinction. A number of factors have contributed to this decline, but the three most often cited are: overfishing; environmental degradation, such as diminished water quality and habitat loss; and oyster disease. Concern over the ecologic and economic impact of this decline has led some Virginia scientists to look for other oyster species which may in the long term be used as a substitute species for "Crassostrea virginica". The introduction of an exotic species of oyster into the Chesapeake Bay has social, economic, ecological and political ramifications. In early spring of 1990 the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William and Mary submitted a proposal to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission requesting permission to conduct an open water experiment using the Japanese oyster, "Crassostrea gigas", in the York River, one of the tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. The controversy surrounding this proposal and its approval and denial described here, has involved representatives from several state governments, various components of the Chesapeake Bay oyster industry, non-​governmental organizations and public interest groups"--National Sea Grant Library publication website.