Marylanders have an opportunity this week to be heard on two different but related issues of critical importance to the Chesapeake Bay.

The federal and state governments are seeking feedback from the public on whether to introduce an Asian oyster into the bay, to revive the Chesapeake's flagging oyster industry and restore its depleted population of bivalves capable of filtering the water. 

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released an Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the pros and cons of sticking with the native oyster (shown at right) in the face of parasitic diseases that have decimated the bay's oyster stock, or trying an Asian oyster that appears resistant to the diseases. 

Three meetings in Virginia drew dozens of speakers, with environmentalists warning against the risks of introducing a non-native species into the bay, while a number of watermen and seafood business owners said there are so few native oysters left their livelihood is in jeopardy without trying something new.

The meetings, which all run form 6 to 9 p.m. are Wednesday Nov. 12 at Calvert Marine Museum, 14200 HG Truman Road in Solomons, Thursday at the Miller Senate Office Building, 11 Bladen Street in Annapolis and Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 2000 Hambrooks Blvd. in Cambridge.  The report, jointly produced with Maryland and Virginia, can be downloaded or viewed at certain libraries.  Go here for a list.

Meanwhile, the state Department of the Environment is seeking public comment on its proposed rules for controlling water pollution from large-scale animal farming.  Agency officials say the new rules, if adopted as proposed, would cover more than 200 poultry farms and regulate the handling of more than half of all the manure that the state's chicken farms produce. Polluted farm runoff is still the leading source of nutrients fouling the bay's water quality.  Some environmentalists have praised the state's actions, while others say it still doesn't go far enough.

About 100 farmers, including chicken growers and crop cultivators, turned out for a public hearing on the rules Monday night in Salisbury, according to an MDE spokesman.  About 15 spoke, with some objecting that requiring buffers along streams and drainage ditches to keep manure out of the water would take valuable land out of production.  Others disputed that their farms were causing any problems for the bay.  Still others, though, thanked agency officials for listening to their concerns, according to the MDE spokesman.

Two more hearings are scheduled, tomorrow (Wednesday Nov. 12) at 6 pm, Chesapeake College at Wye Mills, First Floor Theatre in the Todd Performing Arts Center, and Thursday at 11 am in Frederick,  City Hall Board Room, 101 N. Court St.  (Photo above by Baltimore Sun photographer Jed Kirschbaum)