DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040264

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: BALTIMORE                         LENGTH:   49 lines

MD. SCIENTISTS EXPECTING OYSTER BOOM IN THE BAY

About one-third of the way into their annual fall oyster survey, state scientists said Monday, they are finding near-record numbers of young oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.

The best counts are coming from Eastern Shore waterways, particularly the Miles River, Choptank River tributaries such as the Broad Creek and Harris Creek, and the Little Choptank River, said Stephen Jordan, who directs the Department of Natural Resources survey.

``Even with maybe only one-third of the precincts counted, it is clear that we're going to have nearly record reproduction, if not a record,'' he said.

Scientists won't know this year's count of young oysters, or spat, until after the survey is completed in the next two weeks.

To conduct the survey, officials count the number of spat they find attached to the shells of larger oysters,

The highest recorded count since the survey was begun in 1939 was 289 spat per bushel in 1965, Jordan said. The second-highest was in 1991, when the figure exceeded 200.

The state uses samples from 53 oyster bars around the bay to calculate a spat index, which helps scientists determine the rate of oyster reproduction, growth, mortality and disease problems.

``This year, we know we are going to be above 1991. It remains to be seen whether we will beat 1965,'' he said.

Under Maryland law, oysters need to reach at least 3 inches in length before they can be harvested. High oyster productivity now means watermen could experience a bountiful oyster crop in the next few years.

In 1993, watermen, state officials and scientists reached an agreement to try to prevent oyster numbers from dwindling further. The plan involves restoring oyster reefs, stocking six rivers with disease-free young oysters and declaring certain areas off-limits to harvesting.

Oysters were the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay until the mid-1980s, when the value of the harvest was surpassed by crabbing.

The state's commercial oyster catch has dropped dramatically over the years largely because of MSX and Dermo, two diseases that don't affect humans but are devastating to the oyster population.

In 1974, watermen reported a catch of 15.7 million pounds. The harvest fell to 7.5 million pounds by 1986 and 1.2 million pounds last year.

The 1997 oyster survey also showed that fewer oysters are dying in the bay than in the early 1990s, when the diseases were rampant.

``Instead of seeing 60, 70, 80 percent mortality . . . this year it's been 10 percent. Those are huge improvements,'' Jordan said.

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