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What people say makes us excited::
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Sores as the result of Vibrio vulnificus source http://micro.fhw.oka-pu.ac.jp/microbiology/g-negative/v_vul.html |
http://www.newszap.com/articles/2004/12/14/dm/eastern_shore_of_maryland/cb02.txt
By Gretchen Parker, Associated Press Writer
ANNAPOLIS (AP) - Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, a critic of Gov. Robert Ehrlich's push to answer the nonnative oyster question early next year, upped the pressure on the governor with a hearing at the state capital Monday.
Gilchrest, known as a longtime advocate of the Chesapeake Bay, invited three scientists who testified that not enough is known about nonnative oysters to bring them into the bay next year. One researcher, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, testified that the oysters may prove to be enthusiastic hosts of a raging, deadly pathogen that lives quietly in the bay but has gone largely unexplored.
Ehrlich's administration has accelerated research of the oysters, native to China, and says that in February or March the state should know whether the introduction would be dangerous for the bay. He has emphasized that he'll bow to scientists' recommendations when making a decision but has made it clear he believes the nonnatives are the bay's last, best hope for oyster restoration.
Gilchrest said Monday he believes Ehrlich, a fellow Republican, will be convinced to hold off on nonnative oysters when he's confronted with "the enormous pressure of all of us standing there saying, 'No.'"
"They can't make a decision in February. How would the state move forward, with the scientific community walking away?" said Gilchrest, who said he has interviewed scientists from the University of Maryland, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Connecticut and the National Academy of Sciences.
"I asked them who is going to stand with the state of Maryland in February and say, 'We're ready to go.' No one," he said after the hearing, which was attended by a few members of his Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans.
The federal Army Corps of Engineers is coordinating a multimillion-dollar study into whether Crassostrea ariakensis are safe to bring into the bay.
But the federal government doesn't have the authority to stop an introduction from moving forward.
"We don't have a hook," Gilchrest says.
Gilchrest has concluded that scientists in Maryland and Virginia need until 2007 to conduct enough research to make conclusions about whether ariakensis would bring in disease-causing pathogens or parasites or would crowd out what is left of the bays' native oysters, Crassostrea virginica.
"This is not a negative thing, to study this a few more years," Gilchrest said. "This is a positive thing."
The estuary's native oysters have been decimated by disease and overharvesting, leveling the once-vibrant fishery. One of the diseases, MSX, was brought into the bay in the 1950s via plantings of a different kind of nonnative oyster.
"We really cannot afford to leave any stone unturned in this area," said Mark Luckenbach of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. "Extreme caution is warranted because, as the case of MSX has revealed, the effects can be devastating."
Luckenbach pointed out that ariakensis experimented with in North Carolina were found to be susceptible to contract a parasite called Bonamia that wiped out the oysters. That surprise discovery was made only a year ago, he said.
Jan Powell, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, showed grisly photos of human legs eaten up with open sores and ulcers. The wounds were caused, she said, by an infection of a deadly pathogen carried by oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.
The pathogen, Vibrio vulnificus, is a more dangerous form of the pathogen that causes food poisoning, Powell said. It's indigenous to the bay and is not widely carried by native oysters. But it's unknown, she testified, if ariakensis would be a more willing host.
"The bottom line is we don't know, and we really should get the information," said Powell, who has applied for funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pursue a study.
Pete Jensen, associate deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the agency's oyster czar, called Powell's testimony "alarming for no reason."
Ariakensis researchers commissioned by the state and federal study are experimenting with a wide range of pathogens, including vibrios, said Jensen, who added that the more deadly form of the vibrio pathogen affects only those with weak immune systems.
"We think we've got everything covered - for something we don't consider a risk in the first place," he said after the hearing.
Ron Franks, secretary of DNR, also testified. He urged Gilchrest not to stand in the way, if the science proves ariakensis is not a danger.
"If the research determines that it is safe, we hope that Congress will not work to unnecessarily delay implementation," Franks said. "We should allow the science to determine the course of action and not prejudge the outcome."
Gilchrest also said Monday he plans to introduce federal legislation next year that would rework the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program and give it more regulatory power.
Post your views on this topic at newsblog.info/0601.
News:
Published: Jan 17, 2005 - 07:19:19 pm EST
http://www.newszap.com/articles/2005/01/17/dm/eastern_shore_of_maryland/cam01.txt
Oyster meeting to be Feb. 9
CAMBRIDGE - Local citizens will have a chance to take part in government decision making next month, when the Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting regarding oyster restoration.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Baltimore District (Corps) is working with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop a master plan for native oyster (Crassostrea virginica) restoration in Maryland waters.
As part of this effort, the Corps will draft an environmental impact statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Corps and DNR will develop the plan using sound science and policy to prioritize efforts, a statement from the Corps said.
A study team working on the Chesapeake Bay Native Oyster Master Plan will present information about current activities and solicit comments and concerns.
Oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay have declined dramatically since the turn of the century, largely due to parasitic diseases, overharvesting, and a loss of habitat. Oysters, which are filter feeders, improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, and oyster bars provide valuable habitat for fish, blue crabs, and other species. Oyster landings in Maryland have decreased from 1.6 million bushels in 1986 to 19,000 bushels in 2003.
In 1993, the state of Maryland convened the Maryland Oyster Roundtable to address the restoration of the oyster population; the Roundtable includes fishermen, aquaculturalists, environmentalists, legislators, scientists and senior staff from the Maryland Departments of Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment, and the governor's office. In 1993, the Roundtable developed the Maryland Oyster Roundtable Action Plan, which recommends ways to improve oyster populations in the Bay.
Section 704(b) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 authorized the Corps of Engineers to implement projects that provide alternative or beneficially modified habitats for indigenous fish and wildlife, including manmade reefs for fish habitat in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The current authorization allows for a maximum of $20 million in federal project funds.
The Corps' Baltimore District, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, other resource agencies, educational institutions, and interested individuals, developed the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery Project. The project is a multi-year plan of integrated activities, which include elements of the Maryland Oyster Roundtable Action Plan that the Corps can implement.
Potential project activities include:
-- Creation of new oyster bars and rehabilitation of existing nonproductive bars;
-- Construction of seed bars for production and collection of seed oysters or "spat;"
-- Planting of hatchery-produced spat and spat harvested from the seed bars onto the new and rehabilitated bars; and
-- Monitoring of implemented project elements.
Monitoring will continue for three years after the implementation and construction portion of the project. In conjunction with the federal project, the Maryland upgraded state-owned hatcheries at 100-percent non-federal cost to ensure a sufficient supply of disease-free spat is available for the federal project. Project sites are located in the Severn, Nanticoke, Chester, Choptank, Patuxent, and Magothy Rivers. In addition, seed bar areas are located in Kedges Strait and the Eastern Bay.
"We have three of the hatcheries open now," said Cambridge resident Ben Parks, president of the Dorchester County Seafood Harvesters' Association. One is Bolingbroke, on the Talbot County side of the Choptank River across from Cambridge.
That site has been very productive already, Mr. Parks said.
While he said the Corps is operating "a good project," he urged that attention be focused elsewhere as well.
"The real problem is pollution," Mr. Parks said. "Let's get the sewage plants cleaned up."
Excess nutrients from a variety of sources, including sewage plants, can cause algae blooms that disrupt the fragile ecosystem of the Bay.
Mr. Parks said while restoring the native oysters is a good cause, another type, ariakensis crassostrea could help too. While the native shellfish do well in lower salinity in the Mid and Upper Chesapeake, ariakensis could thrive in brackish waters farther south, Mr. Parks said.
That could raise overall numbers of oysters, since parasites are prevalent in high-saline environments - and ariakensis has shown indications of being able to resist the parasites.
Also known as Asian oysters, ariakensis have been grown in Oregon for 45 years, Mr. Parks said.
Phase I aquatic activities were conducted in 1997 through 2001, with monitoring through 2004. A second phase of the project, including development of a long-term master plan, is currently underway.
Construction activities were conducted in 2002 through 2004, and additional work is planned for June 2005.
The total cost for the Phase I and Phase II short-term project is $6.667 million; the federal share of this cost (75 percent) is $5 million, and the state of Maryland's share is $1.667 million.
Managing Editor Dave Ryan can be reached at (410) 228-3131 ext. 23 or banrnews@newszap.com. Post your comments on this issue at newsblog.info/0601.
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