Letters to the Editor
Our Native Oyster Can Survive
Dear Bay Weekly:
Your editorial concerning the introduction of alien Asian Oysters in the tidal waters of Maryland [“Alien Oysters Make a Risky Stew,” Vol. XI, No 26: June 26] pretty well covered the bases. This response takes exception to “For more years than we can count, scientists, watermen and politicians have been seeking a way to stem the tide and we are still trying. But so far it hasn’t worked.”
The conventional efforts of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office and the Chesapeake Bay Program, aided and abetted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, have misread Mother Nature’s signs and continued with the failed traditional shell piling/spreading activities.
Meanwhile, during the last 10 years, a small group of outside-the-box thinkers have designed and built three large-scale, deepwater oyster reefs that work, providing what the wild native oysters need: habitat that is off the bottom, secure from most predators and resistant to storms.
Can the wild, native oyster be restored to a sustainable fishery? Absolutely!
Can the wild, native oyster compete in the marketplace with the alien Asian oyster? Absolutely!
It is good to read in your editorial that Gov. Robert Ehrlich talked about “opportunity and restoration” and said that he intended to be “proactive and bold.” Seems the governor would need to know what is going on in the lower Rapphannock River.
Yet another study. Can the native oyster survive all this effort to put it down? A better question might be, can the native oyster survive political in-the-box thinking? Gov. Ehrlich, the Bay starts with you and your Virginia counterpart.
— Robert W. Jensen: oyster reef designer and senior partner, Reeftek; Topping, Va.
Seeking Boat Builder Named Kennedy
Dear Bay Weekly:
I liked your letter on boat builder George Edwards [Vol. XI, No. 25: June 19]. I do reconditioning on 1960s and ’70s ski boats. I own a 1968 Kennedy. It looks like an Allison race boat. I have not seen another boat like it. Please see if you can get any information from your readers on the boat builder named Kennedy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
— Noel Edelen, La Plata
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