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Article: Drought Deals New Blow to Imperiled Oyster Harvest
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 23, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The persistent drought, which encourages growth of harmful
bacteria, is contributing to an explosion in oyster disease
throughout the Chesapeake Bay that may reduce the fall harvest to
half of last year's already depleted levels, scientists say.
Furthermore, the disease is so widespread that even if it
vanished tomorrow, complete recovery of the bay's oyster population
would require three or four years, the time it takes a young oyster
to mature, the scientists say.
Bay watermen are shaken. The dockside value of the Maryland
harvest, $16 million last year, is likely to be only $7 million for
the season that began in October and ended last month, even though
bushel prices are rising. The ...