New film: Scientists share blame for oysters' decline

A new documentary suggests that scientists share blame with watermen and early oyster "farmers" for the drastic decline of the Chesapeake Bay's native bivalves.

In "Who Killed Crassostrea Virginica," fimmaker Michael Fincham of Maryland Sea Grant College makes the case that scientists and early oyster growers testing faster-growing foreign oysters likely introduced the MSX parasite that devastated populations of the native bivalve in Delaware and Chesapeake bays.

"Most people mention pollution as the primary cause for the decline of Crassostrea Virginica," according to Fincham. "Although pollution is a problem, it is not the problem that killed off the oysters."  His research found poorly controlled experiments and "secret plantings" of non-native oysters that may have brought the parasite to the region's waters.

Watermen, often faulted for overharvesting the bay's signature shellfish in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, don't get off the hook in this new filmed history. Fincham notes how the widespread use of dredges and tongs broke down the bay's high-rising oyster reefs, destroying their habitat.

The film debuts Sunday, April 10, at 10 p.m. on Maryland Public Television.  It's the kickoff of MPT's annual "Chesapeake Bay Week," a week of programming about the bay.