In recent years, lovers of Lynnhaven oysters have had the added gratification of contributing to the river’s improvement every time they slurp from a half-shell. More oysters eaten has meant reasons to plant even more of them in the Lynnhaven. Everybody, it would seem, wins.
But the oysters’ remarkable rebound after decades of demise hasn’t come without conflict.
An increasing number of watermen are growing them in cages. In the Lynnhaven, one of Virginia’s busiest waterways, the surge in aquaculture has run into resistance from some waterfront homeowners and recreational water users. They want tougher rules on where cages can go.
The conflict is being hashed out in the meetings of a new state-chartered work group. While it’s focusing on the Lynnhaven, its recommendations could reshape rules for the oyster farming that’s been expanding throughout coastal Virginia.
