William & Mary News reported that a once extinct shellfish on the Eastern Shore has had a stunning revival.
Thanks to conservation efforts from William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory, public grants and private funding, the Virginia bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) population has resurged so much that multiple scallops are found within a single square meter (about 10 square feet) and are on the verge of doubling in less than 1.5 years.
It's a stark contrast from the 90 years when the shellfish disappeared from the bay due to seagrass wasting disease killing off their eelgrass habitat. So in 1997, researchers began restoring the eelgrass beds and began raising and releasing scallops to the newly grown habitats since 2009.
The restoration process begins with collecting broodstock (adult scallops that can reproduce) in cages, transferring them to the lab, and warming them to encourage spawning. From there, researchers feed high-quality algae to larvae, transfer larvae to a nursery where they're monitored daily from April to July, and then deploy them to various bay sites.
VIMS ESL director Richard Snyder told William & Mary News it's "a significant societal and ecological achievement." Like the revival of the wild boreal toad in Colorado and the Partula snails of French Polynesia, the conservation efforts around the Virginia bay scallops show how once extinct species may thrive again in the wild.
A thriving scallop population is good for water quality as they filter phytoplankton, algae, and other small organisms out of the water column, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Their place in the marine food chain involves both adults and larvae being a source of food for cod, eel, crabs, sea turtles, etc. With cleaner waters and another food supply at hand, more biodiversity can continue to thrive.
Plus, the scallops' relationship with eelgrass isn't one-sided. Their water filtering supports seagrass health, as clear water makes photosynthesis easier. From there, abundant seagrass acts as a blue carbon sponge capable of storing over twice as much carbon and methane as forests, per the Great Pond Foundation.
When these scallops disappeared from Virginia's bay, it took commercial opportunity with it. As the population increases, these shellfish can further contribute to the bustling Virginia seafood industry, estimated at $1.1 billion in 2019, according to Virginia Seafood. These results may allow locals to harvest their own bay scallops in the near future.
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