Chesapeake Bay

Last summer residents of the Eastern Shore and other coastal areas complained bitterly about dead fish washing up on beaches – fish that were accidentally spilled from nets owned by a firm called Omega Protein. The company produces ingredients for nutritional supplements and pet food. This week, the state announced an agreement with Omega to limit future spills, but environmentalists doubt it will make much difference.

Last week, the Nansemond Indian Nation was given back 504 acres of their ancestral lands in Suffolk County.For the seven federally recognized Tribes in Virginia, getting back ancestral lands for conservation is key to their sovereignty.

For more than a decade, environmentalists and sportsmen have asked the state to ban industrial fishing for menhaden – a tiny, oil-rich fish that feeds sea birds, marine mammals and larger fish. Most Republicans have resisted efforts to limit the catch , but a member of the GOP is now leading the charge to end menhaden fishing in Chesapeake Bay.

Restoring the population of native oysters to the Chesapeake Bay began with an executive order by President Obama in 2009.This week, Governor Ralph Northam gathered with a small group at a rural marina to mark a milestone.

A spill last week is lending support to calls for an end to menhaden fishing in Chesapeake Bay. Those tiny fish are essential to the survival of marine mammals, sea birds and other fish, but a Canadian company dumped about 400,000 of them into the bay.

Virginia’s thriving oyster farming industry means the shellfish can be eaten year-round. But wild oysters in the Chesapeake Bay region remain in a…

Five years ago, scientists said residents of Tangier Island may become among the first climate change refugees in the continental United States.Others…

Virginia is celebrating a 20 year experiment off the Eastern Shore – the restoration of vast seagrass meadows where marine animals live. It’s the largest…

Virginians are heading to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for a break from the COVID-19 pandemic – fishing, kayaking, and swimming. Throughout the…

The Trump administration is again trying to make it easier for developers and farmers to fill or discharge pollutants into streams and wetlands – a move…