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"Oyster Renaissance Lifts Chesapeake Bay, But Troubles Linger"

"A campaign to add 10 billion oysters to the bay by 2025 — naturally purifying the water — is on pace even as Virginia and Maryland contend with agricultural runoff and other pollutants."

"VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia — After hoisting one of his 650 oyster cages from the bottom of Broad Bay, Joey Carmack grabbed a hose to remove a slimy pile of bright green seaweed and muck from his equipment, wishing there were more hours in the day to keep it clean.

“If we could get out here and spray every cage every single day, I would, but it’s just not feasible,” said Carmack, the operations director for First Landing Seafood, a small family-owned business that plans to grow 3 million oysters this year in a tributary of the Lynnhaven River at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

As the peak summer season approaches, these are busy days for Carmack, whose aquaculture business is just a small part of a much bigger plan to introduce 10 billion new oysters in the Chesapeake by 2025 as a kind of natural purification system."

Rob Hotakainen reports for E&E News May 21, 2024.

Source: E&E News, 05/22/2024