Oyster farmers support aquaculture leases for Inland Bays

Task force recommends legislation; clammers raise questions

 

Rehoboth Beach resident Andy Nowakowski has a passion for oyster farming.
It might be that his family has been raising oysters in Virginia for more than five years. Or maybe it's just the call of the water and salt air.

Whatever it is, the Cape Region native dreams of raising oysters in the Inland Bays, and new legislation could make that dream come true.

Nowakowski has attended nearly 30 meetings over the past year on developing an aquaculture industry in the Inland Bays. A task force organized by the Center for the Inland Bays unanimously approved a package of code changes to allow oyster farming.

While those involved in the task force see many benefits of promoting aquaculture, others – including active clammers – recall the devastation of the oyster industry in the mid-1970s, when disease and overharvesting resulted in the collapse of the industry. Since then, the state stopped leasing land in the Inland Bays; the bottom is now a public resource.

READ MORE:  http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/oyster-farmers-support-aquaculture-leases-for-inland-bays/985903