Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993                   TAG: 9303280013
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

SNOW MAY HAVE DAMAGED OYSTER CROP

Scientists are worried that many Chesapeake Bay oysters could die from an overdose of fresh water from melting snow.

During their active period, oysters cannot survive in waters with saline levels less than 3 or 4 parts per thousand. The creatures are able to withstand lower levels only in cool weather when they are dormant.

Saline levels at the James River's normally brackish Wreck Shoals oyster beds have reached zero, said Eugene M. Burreson, of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. "The water temperature in the James is 46 degrees now, and that's close to the temperature when oysters start feeding" and become susceptible to fresh water, Burreson said.

Fresh water can paralyze oysters, swelling their tissues and rendering them unable to filter water and eat, scientists say.

"I'm very worried at this point," said Jim Wesson, a Virginia Marine Resource Commission manager trying to slow the oyster's decline. "We could lose a big percentage of the oysters that are left."

The bay's oyster population is believed to be less than 1 percent of what it was 100 years ago. Scientists blame the decline on parasites, over-harvesting, toxic pollution, and even red tide, an accumulation of red-pigmented, microscopic plants that produce toxic chemicals.