THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280003
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
``The oyster population in the 19th century could filter the water in the (Chesapeake) Bay every three to six days,'' said Rolland A. Schmitten, assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, at an oyster scientists conference in Williamsburg this week.
``The present stocks require 325 days,'' he said. And he asked, ``Who says man has been kind to his environment?''
There was gloom and more gloom at the conference on oyster-reef restoration, hosted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
VIMS Professor Bill Hargis, one of Virginia's leading oyster biologists, attributed the destruction of oyster beds not to disease but to mismanagement and greed - to overharvesting.
It took nature 2,000 years to create the state's vast oyster beds, he said, and man 200 years to destroy them.
Virginia and Maryland oyster populations have been hit in recent years by the disease-causing parasites MSX and Dermo.
But man, Hargis said, is the main culprit in the reduction of oyster-bed acreage in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from about 200,000 acres at the turn of the century to 3,500 today.
``They weren't destroyed by disease,'' he said. ``They weren't destroyed by pollution. They were destroyed by overharvesting.''
Moderation has never been humankind's long suit. Too often we've killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.
On the occasions we've come to our senses, nature has responded with amazing demonstrations of resiliency. For example, striped bass, also known as rockfish, were near extinction until years of strict government protections bought them time to reproduce in great numbers. Last week, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission greatly relaxed fishing limits on striped bass, after scientists said the fish were sufficiently recovered to withstand increased harvesting. by CNB