New aquaculture committee to meet

This will be the first of four scheduled sessions, as part of a two-year process by the Department of Environmental Quality to determine the final regulations imposing stricter water quality standards on designated areas of the Eastern Shore, writes Carol Vaughn .

According to DelmarvaNow the push for additional protection for aquaculture originated with Gov. Tim Kaine, who has pressed for alternative discharge options for wastewater from treatment facilities.

Aquaculture is one of the Shore's economic mainstays. Studies show that 178 million clams were produced in 2005, an increase from 30 million 14 years earlier. And in 2003, aquaculture pumped $32.5 million into the state economy.

An meeting about the proposal held last October attracted significant interest although there was a mixed responses to imposing stricter water quality standards.

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