A Successful Restoration of Oysters to the Chesapeake (7 of 12) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

A Successful Restoration of Oysters to the Chesapeake (7 of 12)

Caption

Conventional wisdom in the oyster fishing industry and management states that native oysters almost always die before reaching the minimum size for the fishery, 76 mm in shell length. Here is a live, large oyster over 100 mm shell length from the restored reefs. Currently, many millions of oysters larger than 76 mm are thriving at high densities on the US Army Corps of Engineers restored reefs. This image relates to an article that appeared in the July 30, 2009, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The study, by David Schulte of Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary in Gloucester Point, Va., and colleagues, was titled, "Unprecedented Restoration of a Native Oyster Metapopulation."

Credit

Image courtesy of Dave Schulte, Russ Burke, and Rom Lipcius

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