New Maryland oyster farming proposal
USA: The Maryland government plans to introduce new legislation that will make it easier for people and businesses to grow oysters and other shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay area.
The proposed bill was presented last week at the Maryland Aquaculture Coordinating Council meeting in Annapolis.
The government sees it as very important to make it easier for the oyster industry to recover from diseases which have severely affected the Chesapeake's oyster harvest during the past almost twenty years. The state proposes to reduce, or eliminate, red tape and other legal limitations on leasing in the area.
The state is also evaluating whether or not to introduce a disease resistant Asian oyster into the bay, or if they should just continue to try and rebuild native oyster stocks.
More and more people, including traditional fishermen, are showing interest in farming oysters. Several of these newcomers feel they can beat the diseases that have plagued the area, but express more concern about government red tape and regulations.
Currently, about 300 people hold approximately 700 leases covering almost 7,300 acres of Maryland waters. Only a small portion of this is being used to grow oysters.
If the proposal is implemented, it would also establish "aquaculture enterprise zones" in the Patuxent and Rhode rivers. These zones would include 50 acre tracts that have been preapproved in order to speed up the process and make it easier to start farming oysters.
In the proposal there are suggested limitations which would bar leases within 50 feet of the shoreline or a pier, in narrow creeks, coves or inlets.
