![]() ![]() 'A WILDLIFE FEAT': Experts declare nutria eradicated from Eastern ShoreīAY RESTORATION: Supreme Court case may threaten future of Chesapeake Bay wetlandsįor years, the report said, jurisdictions have made incremental progress by upgrading wastewater treatment plants. Overall, the report concluded, the unchanged score is largely a result of failures to make needed changes on farmland to reduce pollution. Resource lands refer to forests, natural open areas and well-managed farmland. In the habitat category, scores for underwater grasses, forest buffers, and wetlands remained unchanged, but resource lands fell slightly by a point. In 2022, blue crab dredge survey results found the lowest number of crabs in the bay in the survey's 33-year history. In the fisheries category, the rockfish (striped bass) and oyster indicators rose, while the blue crab indicator declined.Īfter years of overharvesting and limited natural reproduction, in 20 Maryland and Virginia reported the highest rates of juvenile oyster production in the last 30 years, the report said.īlue crabs fell the most of any indicator, the report said, with the overall score dropping five points. In the pollution category, nitrogen, toxics and dissolved oxygen indicators were unchanged, the phosphorus indicator improved, and overall water clarity declined, the report said.ĬBF said in a news release that recent farm conservation funding at the federal and state levels should help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, which fuels harmful algal blooms that remove dissolved oxygen from the water. Seven of the 13 indicators were unchanged, three increased and three decreased. ![]() Reaching an overall score of 70 or more would mean a fully restored bay, while 100 represents its condition before European settlers arrived in the 1600s. Scientists assign each indicator an index score from 1–100. CBF scientists compile and examine data and information for 13 indicators in three categories: pollution, habitat and fisheries. The report was established in 1998 to create a comprehensive measure of the bay's health. ![]()
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