"I've had just about enough of you, toadfish. That's my oyster."
Pictured here is Virginia oyster farmer Cam Chalmers, distracted by a tenacious fish as he lifts cages brimming with fat oysters out of the Lynnhaven River near Virginia Beach.
I went out onto the river with Cam yesterday to get a sense of why aquaculture is succeeding in the Lynnhaven River and across Virginia, where the number of farmed oysters has risen ten fold over the last five years.
One thing that is encouraging about the Lynnhaven, in particular, is that bacterial pollution in the river has dropped substantially over the last eight years. This is in part because Virginia Beach cut down on sewage leaks and septic tank leaks into the waterway. The state also imposed a "no discharge zone" for boats, meaning they can't dump human waste. And citizens groups, especially Lynnhaven River NOW and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, have worked to educate homeowners about the need to pick up after their pets and take other steps to reduce runoff pollution.