If Maryland officials follow through with plans to introduce the Asian oyster into the Chesapeake Bay, they could open the door to a host of human health problems, according to several scientists who testified at a congressional hearing yesterday.
The scientists are concerned about disease-causing microorganisms that naturally occur in some oysters and have been known to cause food poisoning. In rare cases, infections from the species of bacteria, known as Vibrio, can lead to serious illness and even death.
"We obviously need to examine these organisms in Asian oysters," said Dr. Jan L. Powell, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, in her testimony before the congressional panel.
FOR THE RECORD - A photo caption on Page 1B of yesterday's editions of The Sun incorrectly identified W. Peter Jensen, deputy secretary of Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, as U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest.
Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, a Maryland Republican, conducted yesterday's hearing in Annapolis, along with Democrats Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland and Rep. Robert C. Scott of Virginia. The field hearing's purpose was to assess the health of the bay and discuss how to spend the federal resources available for cleanup.
The administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has made restoring the bay's oysters one of its top environmental priorities, and is looking to introduce the Asian oyster because diseases have devastated the native populations. For the past year, the state has funded about $2 million in research projects to determine how the Asian oyster would fare in the bay.
Maryland officials are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on an environmental impact statement and say they will be ready to make a decision in March on whether to introduce the oyster.
But many scientists say it will take far longer to find answers to the many outstanding issues -- among them whether the Asian oyster will out-compete natives for food and habitat, and whether it will bring in new diseases. A National Academy of Sciences report on the Asian oyster recommended at least five years of study.
Mark Luckenbach, an oyster biologist with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, said at yesterday's hearing that the human health issue "hasn't been looked at" and that a full study of it and the other issues would take between three to seven years.
Mikulski pressed him on whether the questions could be answered more quickly.
"Our watermen are fidgety. Our seafood processors are anxious," she said. "We need sound science, but we're concerned there will be pressure for an introduction."
