Asian oysters not part of plan to revive stocks in Bay

Virginia, Maryland and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a new strategy Monday for restoring oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, a 10-year plan costing $500 million that excludes any use of exotic Asian oysters.

The "preferred alternative," as outlined by Army Col. Dionysios Anninos, based in Norfolk, will focus solely on reviving native oysters - by building more artificial reefs in the Bay, expanding oyster farming opportunities and growing more baby oysters at more hatcheries.

However, officials could not say where the money will come from to expand oyster-recovery programs, citing the current economic crisis. They expressed some hope, though, that additional funds might be available through the federal stimulus package.

Officials were not sure, either, if their native-only approach will work, noting how 15 years of recent restoration efforts have yielded few successes against a lethal tide of disease, parasites, pollution and lost habitat.

Oyster stocks today are about 2 percent of their historic average, leaving the Bay without a key natural filter of pollutants and the mid-Atlantic region without a big economic engine once thought to be nearly infinite.

"We cannot guarantee success," Anninos said during a telephone conference with reporters, "but we'll give it a helluva go."

Nearly five years in the making, the new strategy is based on a major study led by the Army Corps in Norfolk that involved 90 scientists and cost $17 million.

But the study could not definitely say whether the Asian species - also known as ariakensis or the Suminoe oyster - was safe enough to continue experimenting with in the Bay.

With states from Maine to Florida expressing concern about an exotic oyster spreading into their waters and causing havoc and with government agencies and environmental groups voicing anxieties about possible diseases and other risks, the Asian option ultimately was dropped.

The news, while expected, was devastating to Virginia seafood merchants, some of whom had grown and sold ariakensis for profits during the past seven years of controlled experiments in the Bay.

Nearly 1 million Asian oysters are being raised now in the Bay under a special permit, though officials said Monday those animals, while sterile, will be removed within the next month or two.

Some merchants talked about filing a lawsuit, though they said they probably could not afford a legal bout with the government.

"We stand firmly behind the Asian oyster, even today," said Frances Porter, executive director of the Virginia Seafood Council, a trade group based in Newport News that has sponsored field experiments each year since 2000.

Environmental groups were elated by the decision, saying the Asian debate was diverting too much time, energy and money from native programs.

"Restoration and aquaculture successes can and will continue to expand with our native oyster," said Michael Lipford, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said native oysters are showing increasing tolerance to two deadly parasites, MSX and Dermo, and that oyster populations in the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach and elsewhere are showing signs of improvement.

In recent weeks, state and federal officials had struggled to find a consensus for their strategy. The corps and Virginia had wanted a role for continued Asian experiments, while Maryland and other federal agencies did not.

Virginia's secretary of natural resources, L. Preston Bryant, said it is "very unlikely" that "open-water seafood trials" will ever again be permitted with Asians. Still, he said "small-scale, scientific research" could be pursued - if only to settle questions of risk.

There also were concerns that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would object to any plan that included Asians. That would mean the oyster strategy would be elevated to the White House and a highly charged political debate that few in Virginia were ready to fight.

Pete Nixon, a Norfolk waterman who has grown Asian oysters for six years and loves them, compared the decision Monday to the contradictions of the electric car.

Everyone loves electric cars and native oysters, Nixon said, "but they have no clue how to make them work."

Nixon will pull up his experimental oysters from the Lynnhaven River next week. He plans to eat some of his last Asian crop - if any make it to the dining table.

"My wife loves them," Nixon said with a chuckle. "She fights me for them when we fry them."

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com