It seems a familiar Chesapeake Bay story: A shellfish racked by disease, preyed upon by cownose rays, is at historic lows, depriving watermen of a valuable fishery and removing a key filter feeder from the ecosystem. Biologists describe its loss as "catastrophic."
"It's amazing," biologist Mark Homer said of their dramatic decline. "You feel sorry for the animal."
Homer wasn't talking about the Bay's best known beleaguered bivalve, the oyster, but rather the soft-shell clam. And his worry goes beyond this one species of clam. Scientists and watermen are witnessing a collapse of several key clam species all around the Bay.
Unlike oysters, which build elaborate reefs, soft-shell clams burrow into the sediment where they are out of sight - and seemingly out of mind. So much so that few people seem to have noticed their near total collapse in Maryland over the last two decades, and their even earlier collapse in Virginia.
New CAFO regs apply to hundreds more small farms in Bay watershed: In the world of Big Agriculture, Virgil Shockley is one of the little guys.
Boaters asked to look out for zebra mussels below Conowingo Dam: Maryland Department of Natural Resource biologists say that a zebra mussel population has become established in the lower Susquehanna River below the Conowingo Dam.
Ship's experiments look for ways to prevent foreign stowaways : Most days, the Cape Washington sits in Baltimore's harbor, looking majestic as the sun hits its gunmetal-gray exterior. Inside, the 700-foot ship resembles a giant parking garage, although the ramps built to withstand the weight of Humvees and tanks are empty. A drill rumbles in the background, and the faint smell of fresh paint wafts from the walls. The Cape Washington feels like what it is: a ship, temporarily in port and undergoing repairs, waiting for its orders.
New angle for stream efforts: If it's good for trout, it's good for Bay: Native brook trout are disappearing throughout the Chesapeake region. However, they have recently made a welcome appearance in a surprising place—the new federal strategy to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
Recent EPA enforcement actions intended to send message to polluters: For nearly two decades, Bay restoration efforts have been built on voluntary efforts and cooperation, the cornerstones of the Chesapeake Bay Program. But as the pace of cleanup progress has been slower than what was once hoped, the regulatory reach of state and federal programs has increased.
House Bay cleanup bill easier on farmers than Senate's version: A House committee in July approved a farmer-friendly Bay cleanup bill, setting the stage for difficult negotiations with proponents of tougher legislation that cleared a Senate committee a month earlier.
Smart buoy deployed near Little Choptank: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deployed its ninth Chesapeake Bay smart buoy in late July, just west of the Little Choptank River.
Bay 'treasure hunt' raises awareness of trust projects: The Chesapeake Bay Trust has launched a "Hooray for the Bay" contest aimed at raising awareness about "Treasure the Chesapeake" license plates.
