Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, spoke with The Examiner about the proposal to introduce nonnative Asian oysters into the Chesapeake Bay to help restore the dwindling oyster population.
What do you think of the proposal?
That’s going to be a political battle. Virginia already has [nonnative oysters] in the water, but they have the nonreproducing oysters. Maryland doesn’t have it. They’ve experimented with it some in the universities. …
It’s more political than scientific.
So you think it’s a good idea?
If you don’t have oysters that live long enough to reproduce, you won’t have oysters in the Bay. The disease gets in them, but it doesn’t kill them. So this has to be considered.
It has been studied without any negative effect, so now it’s a political battle. The only thing they said in the report is that there might be some unknowns. There are always unknowns in life.
Those unknowns don’t concern you?
Not at all. I don’t know why everyone is worried about an oyster overtaking something we really don’t have.
We really have to do something. We didn’t want to put something in the water that is harmful, but after five years, no one has found anything wrong.
Should officials continue efforts to restore the native oysters?
I definitely think they should restore the oysters that do live in some of the rivers. And they can experiment with the triploid oyster, which doesn’t reproduce. I’d experiment with that first.
There are not enough hatcheries and not enough money to hatch enough oysters to restock it to the way it used to be.
Public comment sought
A 60-day comment period begins Friday on the draft environmental impact statement for oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay.
The draft report, released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Department of the Environment and Virginia Marine Resources Commission, is available online and at several libraries, including the central branch in Baltimore City.
Six public hearings will be held in Maryland and Virginia, including one from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Miller Senate Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis.
Residents may mail comments to Department of the Army, Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers, Fort Norfolk, 803 Front St., Norfolk, Va. 23510, Attn.: Mark Mansfield, or e-mail [email protected].
A final report will be published in April 2009.
