"Jude" > wrote:
> Here in the Hampton Roads, VA area, they are trying HARD to bring back
> oysters. The Lynnhaven Oyster Project is trying to repopulate the
> Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach, using artificial reefs. They have
> several schools supporting their efforts; students go out and check
> water conditions with their science classes. Eventually there's a hope
> that local native oysters can flourish once again.
>
> Look he
>
> http://www.lynnhavenriver2007.org/

There are some truly valiant efforts being made to bring back the native
oyster, but I think it's basically a losing battle. Probably the biggest
problem is the rampant suburbanization of the Chesapeake Bay watershed over
the last 30-40 years. Many years ago the pollution problems were caused by
point sources from industry and sewage treatment plants. Those were
reasonably easy to fix. Now it's surface water runoff from farms, lawns,
driveways, parking lots and roads. The dispersed nature of the pollution is
very difficult to address. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of
local governments, in addition to the state and federal governments that
will have to come on board to fix the problem, and I don't see that
happening. The watershed includes parts of NY, PA, WV, MD, DE, DC, and VA.
It's hard to get a community that may be a couple hundred miles away from
the actual bay (like upstate NY) to tackle issues such as land use planning
that affect surface water runoff.

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