Oysters – Chesapeake Bay

Oysters Chesapeake Bay

Ambience: Osprey

The sounds of an osprey, one of the many species of birds who inhabit Chesapeake Bay. The Bay is also home for oysters and oyster hatcheries – a multi-million oyster industry which is being impacted by pollution. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Kuhn: Oysters are very important in the ecosystem because they filter the water out. And without oysters, the Chesapeake Bay would be a lot more polluted.

Dave Kuhn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech.

Kuhn: When the pollution comes into the water, such as fertilizer, it helps the algae population grow, and the algae will convert the pollution into protein inside their cells. Then, the oysters will eat the algae. And so, that combination is just a great way to clean up the bay, between the algae and then the oysters cleaning up the algae.
So, in summary, the oysters provide this great environmental service while they’re in the water and then can be consumed by people safely.

At the same time, continuing industrial pollution and the runoff of fertilizers from farms can have a negative impact on oyster hatcheries in Chesapeake Bay.

Kuhn: Both the farmlands and the industry are very important to our economy and so we can’t really go in there and modify what they do. What we’re trying to do is develop solutions in the oyster hatchery to offset the problems that are in the Chesapeake Bay so they can be successful in breeding these oysters.
One way you can deal with some of the water chemistry issues in the Chesapeake Bay is to use filtration devices. If you think about a fish tank at home, you can put on a filter device and clean the water up. And so, we’re looking at those types of solutions for the oyster hatcheries.
In the last 10 years, the number of oyster hatcheries in Virginia has increased. Hopefully, we can continue that trend into the future to help clean up the bay even more and provide more economic benefit to the area.

I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Oysters - Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay - home to a multimillion dollar oyster industry, is threatened by industrial and agricultural pollution.
Air Date:10/07/2015
Scientist:
Transcript:

Oysters Chesapeake Bay

Ambience: Osprey

The sounds of an osprey, one of the many species of birds who inhabit Chesapeake Bay. The Bay is also home for oysters and oyster hatcheries - a multi-million oyster industry which is being impacted by pollution. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Kuhn: Oysters are very important in the ecosystem because they filter the water out. And without oysters, the Chesapeake Bay would be a lot more polluted.

Dave Kuhn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech.

Kuhn: When the pollution comes into the water, such as fertilizer, it helps the algae population grow, and the algae will convert the pollution into protein inside their cells. Then, the oysters will eat the algae. And so, that combination is just a great way to clean up the bay, between the algae and then the oysters cleaning up the algae.
So, in summary, the oysters provide this great environmental service while they're in the water and then can be consumed by people safely.

At the same time, continuing industrial pollution and the runoff of fertilizers from farms can have a negative impact on oyster hatcheries in Chesapeake Bay.

Kuhn: Both the farmlands and the industry are very important to our economy and so we can't really go in there and modify what they do. What we're trying to do is develop solutions in the oyster hatchery to offset the problems that are in the Chesapeake Bay so they can be successful in breeding these oysters.
One way you can deal with some of the water chemistry issues in the Chesapeake Bay is to use filtration devices. If you think about a fish tank at home, you can put on a filter device and clean the water up. And so, we're looking at those types of solutions for the oyster hatcheries.
In the last 10 years, the number of oyster hatcheries in Virginia has increased. Hopefully, we can continue that trend into the future to help clean up the bay even more and provide more economic benefit to the area.

I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.