Oysters in the Rappahannock
On Sunday, Governor Warner traveled to the Northern Neck to meet with representatives of the oyster industry – an industry that has seen a drastic decline in the oyster population due to disease and over-harvesting. Traveling by boat out into the Rappahannock River, Governor Warner was shown firsthand what efforts a local business, the Rappahannock River Oyster Company, is taking to strengthen the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.
Accompanied by experts from the Virginia Institute for Marine Science (VIMS), the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Delegate Albert Pollard, Governor Warner learned how the Rappahannock River Oyster Company employs aquaculture, an environmentally safe method, to harvest their oysters.
Governor Warner also toured the VIMS Kauffman Center, a cutting-edge laboratory that explores and promotes the development of aquaculture and is specifically designed to hold both native and non-native species in quarantine. Members of the Virginia Seafood Council, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Thomas Kellum of Kellum Seafood Company, and representatives of Bevans Oyster Company and Cowart Seafood Corporation accompanied the Governor on the tour.
Governor Warner also joined more than 80 supporters at a “meet-n-greet.” The audience included the state’s former Secretary of Natural Resources Tayloe Murphy and his wife, Helen, along with Scott and Kathy Kauffman (the Kauffman Center is named after Jack Kauffman, Scott’s father).
With so many of the stakeholders in the oyster industry present, Governor Warner said he was glad to see that the public and private sectors are continuing to work together to preserve one of Virginia’s most valuable resources – the Chesapeake Bay oyster.
Governor Warner concluded his remarks with this:
“The Northern Neck is one of Virginia’s treasures, and as Governor, I was proud to make the largest investment ever in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. If I have the privilege of becoming your next Senator, I will always fight to protect the Bay.”