Sep 22, 2010 09:04 GMT  ·  By

The Chesapeake Bay area is a very important finfish and oyster habitat, which has over the past few years diminished its return. Experts now seek to analyze the main possible culprit – hypoxia.

This is the word used to describe a lack of oxygen in the waters, or an instance in which very low concentrations of the chemical exist, that cannot sustain complex life.

The phenomenon regularly occurs inside so-called dead zones, which appear in the oceans near river mouths. Such areas appear for example at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

This happens because the river brings with it various agricultural runoff, wastes, fertilizers and pesticides, which promote the development of anaerobic organisms.

These are bacteria and microbes that break apart heavy chemicals, but which also consume all the oxygen around them. As this happens, other species are essentially suffocated.

In the case of Chesapeake Bay, experts have already noticed that oxygen levels exhibit variations between days and nights. The main goal of the new investigation is to find out how and why that happens.

The group that will be conducting the new work will be led by experts at the Smithsonian Institution, and will be founded by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The grant money will be awarded over a period of 5 years, and will amount to roughly $1.6 million. To support the beginning of the investigation, NOAA has already alloted $634,047 to the team.

The main goal of the research is “to predict the impact of hypoxia on commercially and ecologically important finfish and oysters living in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay,” NOAA says.

“This research will enhance our efforts to accelerate the restoration of Chesapeake Bay and contribute to the re-establishment of fisheries that have suffered steep declines during the past decades,” says Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD).

“The Bay provides thousands of jobs to the region, and we have a responsibility to improve the health of this treasured resource for generations to come” the government official adds.

“Finding out when and where low oxygen ‘swings’ occur will help state and federal agencies make important management decisions related to the Bay’s coastal and marine ecosystems,” explains Peyton Robertson, who is the director of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office.

“I'm pleased that this research will draw on some of the top-notch scientists from academic institutions and federal and state governments to more clearly define the effects of hypoxia on finfish and oysters, enabling us to better protect and restore their habitats,” adds the expert.

Robertson is also the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Fisheries Goal Team. Scientists from the University of Delaware and Louisiana State University will also work on this research.