A Riot of Life in a River Reborn

"Grrrr!  Give me that oyster!"

"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.

As a result, 38 percent of the Lynnhaven River last year met water quality standards that allow for the consumption of shellfish out of the river, compared to just 1 percent of the river in 2005.  It's still not perfect -- but clearly  better for a waterway that until recently was too polluted for any oyster farming.

Cam sold 375,000 oysters last year, and expects to sell about 500,000 this year.  This is up from 160,000 oysters in 2008 and about 80,000 in 2007.  So business is healthy for this young entrepreneur, who started oyster farming full time in 2007 after working as a landscaping contractor.

I can also offer this observation: his oysters are healthy and delicious.  We ate a few, right out of the once-bacteria-laden river yesterday, and I had a fine appetizer on a sunny afternoon and not a trip to the emergency room.

I also witnessed plenty of other signs of ecological health.  His cages of oysters were brimming with all kinds of life -- not only the ravenous toadfish, but also elusive eel, sea squirts, blue crabs and a bounty of other critters. Here you see Cam wrestling with an eel.

As Cam and his helper Andre Alexio (pictured at left), used an electric winch to haul cages full of oysters out of the river, a pelican soared by his workboat and landed in the water nearby. Often bottle-nosed dolphins frisk around the boat.  All the aquatic life is a sign of a river reborn -- which is pretty impressive, given the density of suburban development in Virginia Beach.

"Things have really changed on this river, and it's allowed me to have some success," Cam said.  "It took some time, but this past year we got out of the red and now we are really growing our customer base...I love working out here on the water."

His clients now include diners in upscape restaurants from Las Vegas to Charlotte...

...and, of course, he's serving the toadfish, too, although this rude patron did not reserve a table.

 

 

(Article and photos by Tom Pelton)

Comments

[Sean McCandless]

With all of the doom and gloom these days, it sure is good and refreshing to see something positive come out of all of the hard work that people are putting into the battle for better water quality.

[joess]

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