Sterile Asian oysters in Chesapeake Bay
The proposal suggest that Asian oysters are seeded in the Bay and on the Eastern Shore in early June. This particular oyster species, often called Chinese oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis) are not susceptible to the same diseases that have plagued native stocks in recent decades. Earlier trials have shown that the oysters have grown well in aquaculture. Consumer taste tests have also been favorable.
In addition to its disease resistance, the Asian variety is larger than the native oyster and grows to market size more quickly.
The plan is to grow the 1.3 million oysters in cages or bags at 13 coastal waters sites. Before seeding, each oyster will have to be certified as sexually sterile. They also have to be harvested by June 1, 2009.
All of the Asian oysters used in the council experiments have been reared at a hatchery run by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The government mandates that the oysters for this summer’s seeding come from the same hatchery, given its adherence to mandatory safeguards and quarantines designed to keep the Asian oysters from somehow escaping into the wild, according to the institute.
