WASHINGTON — It’s officially oyster season in Maryland and parts of Virginia as of Monday, but the bivalve’s status remains in question after a potentially damaging summer of heavy rains.
“We do have some concerns for the oyster population — seeing all the freshwater that’s come into the bay over this summer,” said Allison Colden, Maryland fisheries scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Oysters require a certain amount of salinity to survive. They’re a brackish water species.”
In areas of the upper Bay, where Colden said salinity levels already are low, the summer rains may have proved fatal for some oysters. Even oysters in Virginia that are closer to the ocean may have suffered.
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