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Disappearance Of The Natural Emergent 3-Dimensional Oyster Reef System Of The James River, Virginia, 1871-1948, H Woods, Wj Hargis Jr., Carl Hershner, Pamela Mason
Disappearance Of The Natural Emergent 3-Dimensional Oyster Reef System Of The James River, Virginia, 1871-1948, H Woods, Wj Hargis Jr., Carl Hershner, Pamela Mason
VIMS Articles
Anecdotal reports have long indicated that oysters, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin), in the Chesapeake Bay once grew in large 3-dimensional reef structures. However, hard evidence of widespread 3-dimensional oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay has been scarce. This study uses data collected from historic charts of the James River, one of the most productive oyster producing tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, to examine the natural occurrence of these reefs as well as their destruction. An early series of charts from the 1870s clearly documents widespread emergent oyster reefs in the James River from Burwell's Bay to Newport News Point. They were …