So we know that the Chesapeake Bay needs oysters for its health, and we know that the Bay's salinity is ideal for oysters, but the population in the last fifty years has been devastated. Maryland used to have about 200,000 acres of oyster reefs; today the number is about 36,000. In pre-colonial days, the oysters could filter the entire Bay in about 3 days; and in 1988 the filtration time was 325 days. The gross value of the oyster harvest dropped 88% from 1982 to 2007. One report stated that the Bay contained less oysters in 2008 than it did in 1983. Over-harvesting, pollution, and disease are the known culprits.
The depletion of the oysters has had a very harmful effect upon the quality of the water in the Bay. Oysters serve as natural water filters, and the fewer they are, the dirtier the Bay is. Water that was once clear for several feet is now so turbid that a wader can lose sight of their feet before their knees are wet.
Efforts of federal, state, and local governments, working in partnership through the Chesapeake Bay Program, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and other non-profit environmental groups, tp restore water quality have had some good results. One obstacle to cleaning up the Bay is that much of the polluting substances appear far upstream in tributaries lying in states that are far removed from the Chesapeake itself. Twenty years ago, the Bay supported over 6,000 oystermen and their families. Today, there are fewer than 500 oystermen.
Repopulation of the Bay oysters via hatcheries has been carried out by a group called the Oyster Recovery Partnership, with some success. They recently placed 6 million oysters on 8 acres of the Trent Hall Sanctuary. And scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary claim that the experimental reefs they created in 2004 are now home to 180 million native oysters, Crassostrea virginica; but that is much less than the billions of oysters that once claimed the Bay as "home."
Earlier this week, it was announced that the 45th Administration planned to cut the Environmental Protection Agency's staff by one-fifth, and eliminate key programs. The original "leaked" numbers proposed that the White House would reduce annual funding for the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Cleanup project by 93 percent, gutting the program from $73 million down to $5 million for the fiscal year. The real numbers were released yesterday, and the Bay Cleanup Program will get nothing from the proposed budget.
The project represents a unique state and federal cleanup plan that began in 2010. It is working. The Chesapeake is getting better, and each partner plays a vital role. The states developed and implemented their own plans to reduce pollution and restore water quality. The EPA's portion of the cleanup program coordinates the science, research and modeling to implement the blueprint and it makes grants that fund pollution reduction. Today, pollution is down. Jobs have been created, human health has been protected, and local economies have been improved. The Chesapeake Bay's "dead zone" where aquatic life cannot thrive is getting smaller; crabs, oysters and underwater grasses are being to rebound.
But the Chesapeake Bay is far from saved. Having the budget cut by 93 percent, or more, will reverse all of the progress that has been made. Bay restoration efforts have a long history of bipartisan support. Our elected officials have consistently pursued a legacy of clean water. Let's make sure that they understand that we want to, and need to, preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay!
Write to the President, the Vice President, to the EPA, and to each and every one of your Congressional representatives. Without clean water everything dies.
Showing posts with label oysters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oysters. Show all posts
Friday, March 17, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Chesapeake Bay Boats and Oysters - Photos
A bugeye
A Virginia deadrise
A Maryland skipjack
Saltwater oyster
A Chesapeake log canoe
Oyster dredgers in Baltimore, Maryland - 1903
(Look young, don't they? My grandfather was working on a fishing boat at age 5...)
1891 - Crisfield, Maryland - African-Americans found work shucking oysters
in communities surrounding the Chesapeake Bay after the Civil War.
The oyster shell mound the people are posed on is the result of one day's labor.
The Chesapeake Bay - Part 2
I remember, as a child, riding the ferry across the Chesapeake Bay on our way to Chincoteague. When I was born, my father was in the US Navy, and we were stationed at Oceana, Virginia; then at Millington, Tennessee, then Corpus Christi, Texas. Dad retired from the Navy on my fifth birthday, and we moved to Gainesville, Florida. Anytime we visited Mom's home town, which was usually once or twice each year, we took the ferry from Norfolk to Cape Charles, Virginia. That happened until 1964, when I was 8 years old; in April of that year, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opened. I was astonished that you could drive both over and under Chesapeake Bay and did not have to take the ferry. I can even tell you that we crossed the Bridge-Tunnel in my Uncle's brand new Jeep Wagoneer - my sister, Mom, and I in the back seat, and Aunt Ruth in the front passenger seat, with Uncle Claude driving. I remember seagulls flying alongside the car, and how scared I was when we entered the first of two tunnels. Now, 52 years later, I enjoy the scents of the salt water and the rhythmic beat of the tires across the joined slabs of the road bed - as well as the sight of the gulls flying beside the car. For me, the Chesapeake Bay has always meant that I was almost home...
The Chesapeake Bay is home to many fauna that either migrate to the area, or live there year round. There are over 300 species of fish and many shellfish and crab species. Some of these creatures include the Atlantic menhaden, the striped bass, the American eel, the eastern oyster, and the blue crab. Birds include ospreys, great blue herons, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons; the last two listed were threatened with extinction by DDT: their numbers plummeted, but have risen in recent years. The piping plover is a threatened species which inhabits the wetlands around the Bay.
Larger fish, like the Atlantic sturgeon, as well as several varieties of sharks, and stingrays visit the Chesapeake. The waters of Chesapeake Bay have long been regarded as one of the most important nursery areas for sharks along the east coast. Megafaunas like bull sharks, tiger sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, basking sharks, and manta rays are also known visitors. Bottlenose dolphins are also found in the Bay. The unconfirmed sightings of humpback whales seem to be proven, as four dead humpbacks have washed up recently along the Eastern Shore. The endangered North Atlantic right whale, as well as fin, minke, and sei whales have also been seen within and near the mouth of the Chesapeake. Loggerhead turtles are also known visitors in the Chesapeake.
The Bay is mostly known for its seafood production - especially blue crabs, clams and oysters. In the middle of the 20th century, the Bay supported 9,000 full-time watermen and their families. Today the Chesapeake is less productive than it used to be . This is due to runoff from urban areas along the western shore of the Bay, runoff from farms on the Eastern Shore and from the Susquehanna River watershed, over-harvesting of marine life, and the invasion of foreign species into the waters.
In the 19th century, the plentiful oyster harvests in the Chesapeake led to the development of the skipjack, the state boat of Maryland, which is the only remaining working boat type in the United States that is still under sail power. Other characteristic bay-area work boats include sail-powered boats such as the log canoe, the pungy, the bugeye, and the motorized Chesapeake Bay deadrise, the state boat of Virginia.
In contrast to harvesting the wild oyster, oyster farming is a growing industry in the Chesapeake Bay that helps maintain the estuary's productivity, as well as a natural effort for filtering the impurities, such as excess nutrients, from the water in an effort to reduce the effects of man-made pollution. The Chesapeake Bay Program is using oysters to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the Bay's waters. Oysters are hermaphroditic and will change gender at least once during their lifetime; they often begin life as a male, and end life as a female. There are numerous ways to cook and eat them (besides raw on the half-shell), as well as many recipes and sauces to accompany oyster dishes. According to Kendra Bailey Morris, of the National Public Radio in 2007, "The Chesapeake oyster - sometimes called Chesapeake white gold - has a flavor and texture that begs connoisseurs to come back and shuck just a few more."
The Chesapeake is also famous for its rockfish, a regional name for striped bass. Once on the verge of extinction, rockfish have made a significant comeback because of legislative action that placed a moratorium on rockfishing, which allowed the species to re-populate. Rockfish are now allowed to fished again, but only in strictly controlled and limited quantities.
Chincoteague Island, my maternal family home, was long famous for its oysters and clams. For many years, Campbell's Soup Company had an exclusive contract for the oysters and clams caught, or raised, in and around the island. For quite a few years only Chincoteague oysters and clams were used in Campbell's soup..... The island had problems with pollution, and our shellfish production took a huge dive. The waters are now cleaner, and our oysters and clams are being noticed again.
The Chesapeake Bay is home to many fauna that either migrate to the area, or live there year round. There are over 300 species of fish and many shellfish and crab species. Some of these creatures include the Atlantic menhaden, the striped bass, the American eel, the eastern oyster, and the blue crab. Birds include ospreys, great blue herons, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons; the last two listed were threatened with extinction by DDT: their numbers plummeted, but have risen in recent years. The piping plover is a threatened species which inhabits the wetlands around the Bay.
Larger fish, like the Atlantic sturgeon, as well as several varieties of sharks, and stingrays visit the Chesapeake. The waters of Chesapeake Bay have long been regarded as one of the most important nursery areas for sharks along the east coast. Megafaunas like bull sharks, tiger sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, basking sharks, and manta rays are also known visitors. Bottlenose dolphins are also found in the Bay. The unconfirmed sightings of humpback whales seem to be proven, as four dead humpbacks have washed up recently along the Eastern Shore. The endangered North Atlantic right whale, as well as fin, minke, and sei whales have also been seen within and near the mouth of the Chesapeake. Loggerhead turtles are also known visitors in the Chesapeake.
The Bay is mostly known for its seafood production - especially blue crabs, clams and oysters. In the middle of the 20th century, the Bay supported 9,000 full-time watermen and their families. Today the Chesapeake is less productive than it used to be . This is due to runoff from urban areas along the western shore of the Bay, runoff from farms on the Eastern Shore and from the Susquehanna River watershed, over-harvesting of marine life, and the invasion of foreign species into the waters.
In the 19th century, the plentiful oyster harvests in the Chesapeake led to the development of the skipjack, the state boat of Maryland, which is the only remaining working boat type in the United States that is still under sail power. Other characteristic bay-area work boats include sail-powered boats such as the log canoe, the pungy, the bugeye, and the motorized Chesapeake Bay deadrise, the state boat of Virginia.
In contrast to harvesting the wild oyster, oyster farming is a growing industry in the Chesapeake Bay that helps maintain the estuary's productivity, as well as a natural effort for filtering the impurities, such as excess nutrients, from the water in an effort to reduce the effects of man-made pollution. The Chesapeake Bay Program is using oysters to reduce the amount of nitrogen compounds entering the Bay's waters. Oysters are hermaphroditic and will change gender at least once during their lifetime; they often begin life as a male, and end life as a female. There are numerous ways to cook and eat them (besides raw on the half-shell), as well as many recipes and sauces to accompany oyster dishes. According to Kendra Bailey Morris, of the National Public Radio in 2007, "The Chesapeake oyster - sometimes called Chesapeake white gold - has a flavor and texture that begs connoisseurs to come back and shuck just a few more."
The Chesapeake is also famous for its rockfish, a regional name for striped bass. Once on the verge of extinction, rockfish have made a significant comeback because of legislative action that placed a moratorium on rockfishing, which allowed the species to re-populate. Rockfish are now allowed to fished again, but only in strictly controlled and limited quantities.
Chincoteague Island, my maternal family home, was long famous for its oysters and clams. For many years, Campbell's Soup Company had an exclusive contract for the oysters and clams caught, or raised, in and around the island. For quite a few years only Chincoteague oysters and clams were used in Campbell's soup..... The island had problems with pollution, and our shellfish production took a huge dive. The waters are now cleaner, and our oysters and clams are being noticed again.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Justice And Other Things
The two high-school students charged with felony animal cruelty charges in Longmont (for herding wild Canada geese into the street and then running them down in an SUV) both got plea deals - community service and a suspended sentence. Does this really teach teenage boys not to destroy wildlife just for their own satisfaction?
Two of the three college boys charged with felony animal cruelty charges here in Boulder, have also made plea deals. The third claims he is "not guilty." The three young men (19 to 21 years old) beat a raccoon to death with a baseball bat, a hockey stick, and an extremely dull machete. Witnesses say the young men were "very excited" and jumping and dancing around, yelling, "Get him! Get Him!" I admit that having a raccoon raid your trash can is not good - but the raccoon didn't need to be beaten to death for over 15 minutes by 3 people who each outweighed it by 10 times it's own weight. The two who have plead guilty have the same community service and suspended sentences as the younger boys who ran over geese for the fun of it. Since the third young man has plead "not guilty," he will go to trial. Maybe he will learn some manners in jail.
I can see, in the country, far from a veterinarian, having to kill an animal that is horribly injured - I do condone mercy killing in that instance. A baby rabbit, skinned alive by a lawn mower and with a broken back, that is squealing continuously, needs to be allowed to die quickly. But young men today seem to be a lot more blood-thirsty than they were when I was growing up. I mean, you went out hunting during hunting season - hopefully, you made a good shot, with either your rifle or bow, brought your game down cleanly, and had something to put in the freezer. You didn't go out just to kill something. I really do think that the proliferation of violent games that one can play on a computer, or Game Boy station, or whatever, have made today's youth extremely calloused to death in the real world.
.... On another note, the US Army Corps of Engineers, has come up with a plan to restore old, traditional oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. The corps, which holds the first meeting tonight in Annapolis, says the plan is the first comprehensive bay-wide strategy for large-scale oyster restoration. Nineteen areas, 11 in Maryland and eight in Virginia, have been selected for restoration. Those waterways include the Eastern Bay, Tangier Sound and the Nanticoke, Choptank and Chester rivers in Maryland. The Pocomoke, Rappahannock and James rivers are among the areas in Virginia. The plan also calls for sanctuaries where harvesting won't be allowed covering 20 percent to 40 percent of historic habitat.
I've been in contact with a woman who is writing a book about the genetic make-up of the "wild" ponies that live on the islands off the east coast. I gave her all the information I had on the Virginia side of the Chincoteague ponies - including Mom's memories of the size and coat colors of the ponies when she was a girl. She's been checking my info and is surprised at how accurate my memory is...
My kits are having a blast this morning - I took care of the Thore household early this morning, then spent time with Ooch. Then I came home to Lovey and Nedi - I gave them a special breakfast, and have been loving them to pieces. Lovey is sitting on the corner of my desk, and Nedi is sitting in the open patio door, soaking up the sunshine. The weather folks say we'll have a mix of snow and rain Saturday night, so I hope the kids enjoy the weather while they can.
Two of the three college boys charged with felony animal cruelty charges here in Boulder, have also made plea deals. The third claims he is "not guilty." The three young men (19 to 21 years old) beat a raccoon to death with a baseball bat, a hockey stick, and an extremely dull machete. Witnesses say the young men were "very excited" and jumping and dancing around, yelling, "Get him! Get Him!" I admit that having a raccoon raid your trash can is not good - but the raccoon didn't need to be beaten to death for over 15 minutes by 3 people who each outweighed it by 10 times it's own weight. The two who have plead guilty have the same community service and suspended sentences as the younger boys who ran over geese for the fun of it. Since the third young man has plead "not guilty," he will go to trial. Maybe he will learn some manners in jail.
I can see, in the country, far from a veterinarian, having to kill an animal that is horribly injured - I do condone mercy killing in that instance. A baby rabbit, skinned alive by a lawn mower and with a broken back, that is squealing continuously, needs to be allowed to die quickly. But young men today seem to be a lot more blood-thirsty than they were when I was growing up. I mean, you went out hunting during hunting season - hopefully, you made a good shot, with either your rifle or bow, brought your game down cleanly, and had something to put in the freezer. You didn't go out just to kill something. I really do think that the proliferation of violent games that one can play on a computer, or Game Boy station, or whatever, have made today's youth extremely calloused to death in the real world.
.... On another note, the US Army Corps of Engineers, has come up with a plan to restore old, traditional oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. The corps, which holds the first meeting tonight in Annapolis, says the plan is the first comprehensive bay-wide strategy for large-scale oyster restoration. Nineteen areas, 11 in Maryland and eight in Virginia, have been selected for restoration. Those waterways include the Eastern Bay, Tangier Sound and the Nanticoke, Choptank and Chester rivers in Maryland. The Pocomoke, Rappahannock and James rivers are among the areas in Virginia. The plan also calls for sanctuaries where harvesting won't be allowed covering 20 percent to 40 percent of historic habitat.
I've been in contact with a woman who is writing a book about the genetic make-up of the "wild" ponies that live on the islands off the east coast. I gave her all the information I had on the Virginia side of the Chincoteague ponies - including Mom's memories of the size and coat colors of the ponies when she was a girl. She's been checking my info and is surprised at how accurate my memory is...
My kits are having a blast this morning - I took care of the Thore household early this morning, then spent time with Ooch. Then I came home to Lovey and Nedi - I gave them a special breakfast, and have been loving them to pieces. Lovey is sitting on the corner of my desk, and Nedi is sitting in the open patio door, soaking up the sunshine. The weather folks say we'll have a mix of snow and rain Saturday night, so I hope the kids enjoy the weather while they can.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Another Monday Miscellany
We had heavy cloud cover yesterday morning, with just a small break on the eastern horizon. The sun rose like a huge orange-red balloon in the break, but the clouds stayed a pewter grey; by 8:30, all the clouds had dispersed. Today is cloudless (at the moment) and the sun was a glistening ball of silver-orange fire as it rose. We had a low of 57 last night, while Gunnison, on the western slope, had a low of 33. And yesterday evening and this morning the eastern Colorado plains were pummelled by rain and hail - several towns near the Kansas border received between 1 and 2 inches of quarter-sized hail. My kits are outside, getting wet tummies and toes in the grass. I'll have to round them up about 9 to be ready to go to Walt and Sophie's for the next few days. - Oh, and I took two quizzes on Facebook, the social networking site, last night; according to it, my true Hippie name is Meadow Lotus Song, and my true Native American name is Moon Willow.
Let's see... what else is going on... Zenyatta kept her winning streak alive, winning her race on Sunday by a head, and now has a 12 race win streak. ... A colt in his second race catastrophically broke down on the Polytrack at Del Mar yesterday; the colt that broke down tossed his jockey, Alex Solis, away from the other horses. Captain Cash ran into and over the colt, and tossed his ride, Aaron Gryder, into racing action. Both jockeys are reported to be well. The colt was destroyed when it became apparent that he had broken both left legs; Captain Cash was taken away in the horse ambulance and reportedly has a foreleg injury. ... Virginia has acknowledged it's second recorded case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis for this summer - neither horse had been vaccinated against the disease. The first was a draft-cross in Chesapeake, the second was a 4-year-old miniature mare in Suffolk. Please, if you own any animal - cat, dog, horse, whatever - please have all recommended inoculations! ... Nephew Mike's lady was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, into the care of her Mother, a Registered Nurse. Allison is on a regimen of blood-thinners. ... And the Tidewater Oyster Gardening Association (in the Chesapeake Bay) would like you to think about the following information:
**Adult oysters filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing algae and sediment that negatively affect waterways. **Oyster reefs provide habitats for more than 300 different plants and animals in the Chesapeake Bay. **Volunteers in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's oyster gardening program grow approximately 300,000 oysters per year for restoration. **The three-dimensional nature of oyster reefs vastly increases the surface area available to not only oysters but other plants and animals that depend on hard substrate for all or part of their life cycle. **
Oyster gardening accelerates the growth rate of oysters better than raising the marine mollusks in their natural environment. This is important because the larger the oysters, the more eggs they produce a 3-inch female can produce 30 million eggs; a 3.5-inch oyster can produce twice as many. **Oyster gardening helps restore oyster populations in the waterways in which they are grown because they spawn before the foundation collects and transplants them onto a sanctuary reef.
Have a wonderful week!
Let's see... what else is going on... Zenyatta kept her winning streak alive, winning her race on Sunday by a head, and now has a 12 race win streak. ... A colt in his second race catastrophically broke down on the Polytrack at Del Mar yesterday; the colt that broke down tossed his jockey, Alex Solis, away from the other horses. Captain Cash ran into and over the colt, and tossed his ride, Aaron Gryder, into racing action. Both jockeys are reported to be well. The colt was destroyed when it became apparent that he had broken both left legs; Captain Cash was taken away in the horse ambulance and reportedly has a foreleg injury. ... Virginia has acknowledged it's second recorded case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis for this summer - neither horse had been vaccinated against the disease. The first was a draft-cross in Chesapeake, the second was a 4-year-old miniature mare in Suffolk. Please, if you own any animal - cat, dog, horse, whatever - please have all recommended inoculations! ... Nephew Mike's lady was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, into the care of her Mother, a Registered Nurse. Allison is on a regimen of blood-thinners. ... And the Tidewater Oyster Gardening Association (in the Chesapeake Bay) would like you to think about the following information:
**Adult oysters filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing algae and sediment that negatively affect waterways. **Oyster reefs provide habitats for more than 300 different plants and animals in the Chesapeake Bay. **Volunteers in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's oyster gardening program grow approximately 300,000 oysters per year for restoration. **The three-dimensional nature of oyster reefs vastly increases the surface area available to not only oysters but other plants and animals that depend on hard substrate for all or part of their life cycle. **
Oyster gardening accelerates the growth rate of oysters better than raising the marine mollusks in their natural environment. This is important because the larger the oysters, the more eggs they produce a 3-inch female can produce 30 million eggs; a 3.5-inch oyster can produce twice as many. **Oyster gardening helps restore oyster populations in the waterways in which they are grown because they spawn before the foundation collects and transplants them onto a sanctuary reef.
Have a wonderful week!
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