Political Quotes

“I rise in favor of an amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Sarbanes and Senator Allen relating to the ongoing effort by the Corps of Engineers, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of Maryland to give new life to the Chesapeake Bay oyster. Since 1996, the Corps of Engineers has joined with Maryland and Virginia to provide oyster habitat in the Chesapeake Bay. This partnership has stimulated significant financial support from Virginia and Maryland, dollars from the non-profit Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and many individuals. The oyster, once plentiful in the Bay, has been ravaged by disease, over-harvesting and pollution. Oyster populations in the Bay are nearly non-existent at 99 percent of its traditional stock. In 1999, watermen landed about 420,000 bushels--approximately 2 percent of the historic levels. Since the beginning of the joint federal-state Chesapeake Bay Restoration program in 1983, we have learned that restoring healthy oyster populations in the Bay is critical to improving water quality and supporting other finfish and shellfish populations. According to scientists, when oyster populations were at its height, they could filter all of the water in the Bay in three to four days. Today, with the depleted oyster stocks, it takes over one year.”