November 22, 2012 — About a million scallop larvae were released Wednesday in hopes of re-establishing a healthy colony of shellfish in Sarasota Bay's sunlit seagrasses.
A coalition of groups joined forces to provide a biological booster shot to the bay, which has not harbored scallops in significant number for decades, said Jay Leverone, Ph.D., a staff scientist for one member of the coalition, the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.
In the next couple of months, another 20 million to 40 million more larvae are slated to be released into the bay, said Larry Stults, Ph.D., an attorney who is also president of coalition member Sarasota Bay Watch.
The portion of Sarasota Bay that adjoins Manatee County may also be seeded with scallop larvae as part of a regional effort from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor, perhaps with money from fines imposed on BP as a result of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Leverone said.
Wednesday's effort was the second this year; earlier this month, scientists released four million young scallops; and in December last year, they released another four million, Stults said.
They hope cleaner water and more lush seagrass habitat, coupled with better policing to prevent recreational overfishing, might have created conditions in which the scallop population can rebound.
However, even if seeding proves successful, it could still take 10 years before scallops return in anything like the numbers when they were a thriving part of the bay's ecosystem, Leverone cautioned. He said it was not clear exactly why they died out.
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