Oyster stocks have plunged in the Chesapeake.
asserted
stocks → plunge → Chesapeake
This resident wants to bring them back
John Consoli stands on the edge of his pier, which juts out from the southern tip of Maryland's Kent Island and into the Chesapeake Bay.
asserted
which → want → Bay
He leans over and hoists a mesh the size and shape of a pillowcase out of the water.
asserted
He → lean → water
It's packed with oysters.
asserted
It → pack → oysters
He manages to get it onto the pier.
asserted
He → manage → pier
"These are brand new oysters from this year," he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
"When I got them, they weighed nothing.
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they → get → nothing
The net is chock full, I can hardly pull it up."
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I → pull → it
Once he gets his breath back, Consoli marvels at these molluscs.
asserted
Consoli → get → molluscs
"I think I'm more enthusiastic about something that's like a rock than anybody else could possibly be," he says with a big grin.
uncertain
he → think → grin
"I really can't think of many more creatures that do the good that oysters do."
asserted
oysters → think → that
Oysters underpin the Chesapeake's coastal and estuarine ecosystem.
asserted
Oysters → underpin → ecosystem
Each adult filters up to 50 gallons of water a day.
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adult → filter → water
Cleaner water leads to a healthier bay and more sea grass.
asserted
water → lead → bay
"That helps crabs and other organisms," says Consoli.
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Consoli → help → crabs
"Because of all the nooks and crannies," he explains, "a lot of small fish and crabs live and eat amongst them and hide, so it creates a biodiverse environment.
asserted
it → explain → environment
I even found a seahorse, which was incredible.
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which → find → seahorse
I've never seen a seahorse in my life!"
asserted
I → see → life
Robots scanning for oysters
Oyster reefs used to abound in the Chesapeake, but overharvesting decimated their ranks — by over 99% by 2011, according to one estimate.
uncertain
overharvesting → scan → estimate
This monumental shift in the bay contributed to poorer water quality and less habitat for other species.
asserted
shift → contribute → species
Oyster farming in the Chesapeake has expanded in recent years, despite environmental and disease challenges, says Ryan Carnegie, a biologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
asserted
Carnegie → expand → Science
He adds that wild oysters have also made a partial comeback, helped by better management and investments in restoration.
asserted
oysters → add → restoration
But, says Elizabeth North, a fisheries oceanographer at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, "current oyster populations are likely still a fraction of these historic populations."
asserted
populations → say → populations
Consoli's goal, therefore, is to be a caretaker of sorts, stocking the bay with ever more oysters and looking after their wellbeing.
asserted
goal → stock → wellbeing
He floats them just below the surface where he says the nutrients are concentrated to help them grow quickly.
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them → float → surface
And although his oysters aren't intended for eating, a cleaner bay does mean better habitat for those that are harvested commercially.
asserted
that → intend → those
Consoli came to oyster conservation in a roundabout way: He's a professional photographer at the University of Maryland and he was doing a shoot involving the campus's oyster research — namely, efforts to understand and support oyster reefs.
asserted
he → come → reefs
"Seeing great minds coming together to solve problems showed to me that there's a real need here," he says.
asserted
he → see → me
Miao Yu is one of the great minds who inspired Consoli that day.
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who → inspire → Consoli
She's a mechanical engineer at the University of Maryland who has observed that despite the recent, modest gains in oyster abundance, farmers continue to face two daunting tasks — both of which are stymied by the bay's murky waters.
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both → observe → waters
The first is knowing where to plant the babies.
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first → know → babies
A young oyster needs to settle upon a hard substrate.
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oyster → need → substrate
But finding that ideal spot is much easier said than done.
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finding → find → spot
"Sometimes it's dropped into [the] mud," she explains — where the young oyster suffocates and dies.
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oyster → drop → mud
The second task involves figuring out where and when to harvest the adult oysters.
asserted
task → involve → oysters
"It's the biggest challenge," she says.
asserted
she → say → ?
"We cannot see like a couple feet down there."
asserted
We → see → feet
This means that the recovery of oysters, often via dredging, tends to be inefficient, and even damaging: It can harm the seabed or pull up oysters that aren't yet ready for harvest.
asserted
that → mean → harvest
The fishermen, she says, "don't have a whole picture of what's going on.
asserted
what → say → picture
So our goal is to transform that guesswork into precision."
asserted
goal → transform → precision
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
