Frances W. Porter, the council’s executive director, has informed that media that Asian oysters will not be going to Chesapeake Bay. He added that unless someone else in the state has the political will to do it. Porter was appearing before the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and was expected to speak in favor of a council application to introduce 1.1 million non-native oysters into the bay starting in June.
She withdrew the application citing onerous federal and state requirements, which she declined to discuss. The VMRC board, with the exception of Ernest L. Bowden Jr. — a waterman who said he was “deeply concerned” about the decision — offered no reaction. It is told that the decision comes weeks before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with Virginia and Maryland, is scheduled to release a report that will guide the future of oyster cultivation in the bay.
According to Porter the states and the corps have already decided not to allow the expansion of Asian oysters, which are fast-growing and resistant to diseases that have helped decimate the native oyster population. Lynda Tran, communications director for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, opined that no decision has been made. Mark Haviland, a spokesman for the Army Corps in Norfolk, said the agency last spoke with council members during a conference call on Friday.
The council began introducing Asian oysters and hoped to convince federal and state regulators that non-native oysters are a timelier and less expensive way to boost the oyster industry. Several groups, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, oppose the idea.
