Good news for oysters in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay, following last week's good news about oysters from Virginia. More oysters in Maryland appear to be developing resistance to diseases that once decimated the bivalves. Results of a Maryland Department of Natural Resource fall oyster survey show the highest survival rate for oysters since 1985, according to the state agency.
The 92 percent survival rate — the percentage of oysters found alive in a sample — builds upon last year high number of strong spatset (number of baby oysters), which was the highest since 1997.
“Although our fight to restore a thriving oyster population to the Chesapeake Bay is far from over, our continued commitment to renewing this iconic species has begun to pay off,” said Governor Martin O’Malley in a press release.