Maryland watermen are wrapping up their best oyster season in five years, an improvement state officials attribute to natural conditions and government efforts.

The harvest for the season, which ends tomorrow, is expected to top 300,000 bushels, according to preliminary tallies by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. That is more than three times the all-time low catch of 79,618 bushels in the 1993-1994 season, but well below the 1 million-plus harvests recorded as recently as the mid-1980s.

Natural conditions have diminished the MSX and Dermo diseases that ravaged Chesapeake Bay oyster stocks. DNR spokesman John Surrick said state plantings of shells and seed oysters also have helped rebuild harvests.

Pub Date: 3/30/99