Posted on 07/09/2005 12:49:55 PM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
Red tide may be the least of Cape shellfishermen's worries this summer.
In May, the National Marine Fisheries Service decided that the Eastern, or American, oyster is a candidate for endangered species status based on a petition they received in January.
The agency has until Jan. 11, 2006, to decide. Fisheries service spokeswoman Teri Frady said yesterday her agency was in the process of putting together a panel of experts to study the issue.
Eastern oysters are harvested in New England and on the Cape, accounting for more than $1.2 million in revenue for the Cape and islands aquaculture industry in 2003, more than any other shellfish species.
The endangered species listing could prohibit harvesting any oysters from Louisiana to Maine. Other options would be less restrictive, such as setting lower harvest levels, or tightening regulations that protect habitat, food supply and water quality.
''Including the American oyster on the endangered species list would come as another major setback for the Massachusetts shellfish industry, just as they are recovering from the devastation of the red tide outbreak,'' state Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, wrote in a press release earlier this week.
On Wednesday, the state Legislature passed a resolution sponsored by O'Leary and state Rep. Shirley Gomes, R-Harwich, objecting to the listing. Rhode Island and New York have passed similar resolutions.
The endangered species petition was submitted by W. Dieter Busch of Ecosystem Initiatives Advisory Services, a Maryland-based consulting firm he founded. It contends that overfishing, loss of habitat, and diseases have placed the Eastern oyster at or near extinction.
Busch, a former U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service scientist, cited federal oyster data that shows that annual landings along the Atlantic coast have declined to less than 2 percent of their historical amounts. The Chesapeake Bay area, he noted, is at 0.2 percent of its historical landings numbers. The petition also attempts to stop the introduction of Asian oysters, which are being studied as a disease-resistant replacement for the Eastern oyster in the Chesapeake, where the oyster population was almost wiped out by diseases in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The endangered species petition comes just as oysters have become an ''it'' food, with the kind of appreciation and connoisseurship assigned to fine wines. Within the last few years, a niche market has arisen with name recognition for flagship species from places such as Wellfleet, Duxbury, Menemsha and Katama Bay.
Robert ''Skid'' Rheault is one of those who have cultivated distinction with his Moonstone oysters from Point Judith, R.I.
Rheault is president of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, which has members from Florida to Maine. He said it's been hard to cultivate interest among aquaculturists and shellfishermen to battle the endangered-species listing.
''Everybody I've talked to said it's ridiculous, that it can't fly, but it's a political process that could come to pass,'' Rheault said.
He said it would ''wreak havoc'' on oyster markets with consumers afraid to eat an endangered species. He said it would also be a regulatory nightmare because it would be hard to distinguish between wild and farm-raised oysters if just the wild harvest were banned or cut back.
Michael Hickey, chief shellfish biologist for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said his agency supports the resolution by O'Leary and Gomes and will provide comment to the U.S. fisheries services. He does not believe the oyster will qualify for endangered species status.
Comparisons with the huge harvests of a century ago are no longer valid, he said, because so much habitat has been dredged for harbors or marinas. Landings numbers in Massachusetts have stayed relatively stable for the past 20 years, he said.
''Overall, the resource here is in pretty good shape,'' he said.
Ah, NOW I see where the interest by government comes from.
What's the matter, too many people kicking the smoking habit?
I would rather that "scrapple" went extinct.
Speaking on behalf of Scrapple Lovers of Free Republic, I resent your junk science. Scrapple will NEVER go extinct. We have the secret formula.
"Including the American oyster on the endangered species list would come as another major setback for the Massachusetts shellfish ... state Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, wrote in a press release earlier this week."
--- But I thought that a judge in Mass already ruled that you couldn't stop Lesbian marriage, how can eating oyster be endangered?
\smart-ass sarc
Well, looks like I better have one last plate of blue points while I still can. Pass the horseradish and tabasco and move back out of the way.
If they ever try that with the Gulf oysters down here......katie bar the door! :)
"Winning isn't everything, there's also oysters on the half shell and cold beer at halftime..." - A New Orleans Saints fan.
There's a place on Bourbon St. that had a happy hour on oysters on the half shell. $10 for all you could eat. I think I put down 5 dozen before I couldn't eat another. Some ketchup, tobasco and horseradish, saltine crackers and cold beer to wash it down. I could eat those suckers all day.
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