Finally, there's some sweet news about the Chesapeake Bay oyster.
Virginia's harvest of the tasty creature increased tenfold over the past decade, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Tuesday.
The catch rose from about 23,000 bushels in 2001 to 236,000 in 2011, officials said. The dockside value of the harvest during that time increased from $575,000 to $8.26 million.
"I applaud the actions of previous gubernatorial administrations which have helped Virginia oysters to make such a vigorous comeback, and we are committed to furthering the growth of this local industry in the years ahead," McDonnell said in a statement.
Still, the harvest is far below that of the 1960s, when watermen commonly pulled up 1 million to 3 million bushels a year.
The industry has been devastated in recent decades by two diseases that don't hurt people but kill oysters when they reach market size at about 3 years old.
The recent comeback stems largely from a management technique, begun in 2008, in which harvest areas are opened for a season then closed for one or two seasons, officials said.
That system gives oysters a chance to grow and reproduce, and it allows watermen to get them just before they succumb to disease.
The bay's oysters still have a long way to go. Experts estimate the population to be about 1 percent of historic highs.
"In fairness, this is an improvement, but it doesn't indicate a cure," said John Bull, a spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Other factors that have hurt oysters include pollution, long-ago overharvesting and, also long ago, the removal of oyster shells during harvests without later returning them to the water. Baby oysters need shells to cling to as they develop.
The oyster was once so abundant in the bay region that huge piles of them and their shells — variously called reefs, rocks, shoals or bars — posed hazards to boats.
Oyster scientist Tommy Leggett of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group, urged the state to keep providing money for oyster replenishment, oyster farming and sewage-treatment plant improvements.
"To continue to grow Virginia's economy and create jobs, it is critical that the commonwealth continue efforts to restore oysters and to improve water quality," Leggett said.
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