Oysters Making a Comeback as Cooperative Clean Up of Chesapeake Bay Swells

Photo courtesy of wallpaperme.com.

The Chesapeake Bay is the United States’ largest estuary- a place where freshwater and saltwater mix. A home to more than 3,600 species of plants and animals, as well as a provider of recreation and livelihoods to local residents, the Bay has becoming increasingly polluted over recent decades.

The water has been polluted primarily by nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural land, cities and towns, wastewater plants, and airborne contaminants. As water pollution in the Bay has increased, oyster numbers have dropped to all-time lows in recent years, and habitats such as underwater grass beds and wetlands have degraded as well.

In an effort to give resurgence to the Bay, federal and state agencies, joined by community groups have started to make some noticeable efforts to restore the ecosystem.

As this year nears to a close, almost 750 million hatchery-reared oysters have been returned to the Bay, which is a new record for Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration effort, according to a recent statement by Governor Martin O’Malley.

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