homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Environment


Subscriber content preview

July 26, 2016

Oyster recovery projects on both coasts seeking funds to expand

  • Oyster populations are down about 85 percent since the 1800s, but hundreds of organizations are working to start or expand oyster colonies.
    • By WAYNE PARRY
    Associated Press

    LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. — Oysters were once so abundant in New Jersey that vacationers would clamber off trains, wade into the water and pluck handfuls to roast for dinner. Their colonies piled so high that boats would sometimes run aground on them, and they were incorporated into navigation maps. Even earlier, Native American tribes would have oyster feasts on the banks of coastal inlets.

    But over the centuries, rampant development, pollution, overharvesting and disease drastically reduced the number of oysters, here and around the country; many researchers and volunteer groups estimate oyster populations are down 85 percent from their levels in the 1800s.


     
    . . .


    To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



    
    Email or user name:
    Password:
     
    Forgot password? Click here.