![Workboats ply the James River working the oyster beds for...]()
Adrin Snider/Daily Press
Workboats ply the James River working the oyster beds for their days catch on Nov. 11, 2015
![Lacy Rose along with his son, Shaw Rose sort oysters...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
Lacy Rose along with his son, Shaw Rose sort oysters on their boat on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH132
![Baskets full of oyster shells are carried toward the Teaching...]()
Buddy Norris, Daily Press
Baskets full of oyster shells are carried toward the Teaching Reef at VIMS by, from left, Tommy Leggett, Jes Russo, Clair Hudson, and Stephanie Bates .The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Virginia IMS built an oyster reef near VIMS at a wetlands area used for teaching school students about the Bay.
![Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News, Va. Nov. 11, 2015. Gov. McCauliff announced numbers Tuesday showing a 24% increase in the 2014 oyster harvest.
![Lacy Rose holds an oyster on his boat on the...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
Lacy Rose holds an oyster on his boat on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH133
![Lacy Rose, left, daughter Lisa Rose work to sort oysters...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
Lacy Rose, left, daughter Lisa Rose work to sort oysters on their boat on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH124
![Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News after being harvesting from the James River by local waterman on Nov. 11, 2015,
![Watermen return to Deep Creek in Newport News, Va. after...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Watermen return to Deep Creek in Newport News, Va. after a day of harvesting oysters from the James River on Nov. 11, 2015,
![Sidney Fink Oyster Gardner. Some gardeners raise tomatoes, some fruits....]()
Joe Fudge, Daily Press
Sidney Fink Oyster Gardner. Some gardeners raise tomatoes, some fruits. In Hampton, Sidney Fink is an oyster gardener, helping restore oysters to local waters.
![Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News after being harvesting from the James River by local waterman on Nov. 11, 2015,
![Watermen aboard the Senora work the James River for oysters.]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
Watermen aboard the Senora work the James River for oysters.
![Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News after being harvesting from the James River by local waterman on Nov. 11, 2015,
![Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News, Va. Nov. 11, 2015. Gov. McCauliff announced numbers Tuesday showing a 24% increase in the 2014 oyster harvest.
![Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Freshly harvested oysters rest in a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News after being harvesting from the James River by local waterman on Nov. 11, 2015,
![An oyster boat heads to the oyster grounds before sunrise...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
An oyster boat heads to the oyster grounds before sunrise to work a small section of the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH130
![Walter Hook holds a young oyster which is from the...]()
Karen Hymes, Daily Press
Walter Hook holds a young oyster which is from the cage containing the 18 month old oysters. He farms the oysters off of his pier positioned in Patricks Creek, which is located in Yorktown.
![Sidney Fink 80yrs. young, Oyster Gardner. Some gardeners raise tomatoes,...]()
Joe Fudge, Daily Press
Sidney Fink 80yrs. young, Oyster Gardner. Some gardeners raise tomatoes, some fruits. In Hampton, Sidney Fink is an oyster gardener, helping restore oysters to local waters.
![High winds left watermen who work private oyster grounds at...]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
High winds left watermen who work private oyster grounds at their berths as storm clouds packing winds moved across the Peninsula on this winter day.
![The wooden boats were used throughout the region in the...]()
Courtesy of Vera England, Daily Press
The wooden boats were used throughout the region in the last century for oyster-trading and crab-dredging. Annual public reunions have been held at the Town Marina in Urbanna.
![The crew of an oyster boat works an oyster dredge...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
The crew of an oyster boat works an oyster dredge on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH123
![Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island pilots the Minimum Wage in...]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island pilots the Minimum Wage in the early morning light to begin another day of work harvesting oysters from the James River. The long often monotonous day is broken up by other watermen who often pass each other within feet as they circle oyster beds towing hand scrapes to collect oysters.
![The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and VIMS oyster reef, circa 2007.]()
Buddy Norris, Daily Press
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and VIMS oyster reef, circa 2007.
![Watermen head out of Deep Creek in Newport News James...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Watermen head out of Deep Creek in Newport News James early Wednesday morning Nov. 11, 2015 in route to oyster beds in the James River.
![Dallas West of Poquson leans on a piling after arriving...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Dallas West of Poquson leans on a piling after arriving on the "Misty Virginia" in Deep Creek to offload a day's catch of oysters taken from the James River on Nov. 11, 2015,
![A commercial seafood house on Gwynn's Island can be seen...]()
Jon Cawley, Daily Press
A commercial seafood house on Gwynn's Island can be seen behind a cannon overlooking Milford Haven from Cricket Hill in Mathews County. March 19, 2007.
![Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin...]()
Adrin Snider / Daily Press
Ronnie Collier dumps a bushel of oysters into a bin on Deep Creek in Newport News, Va. Nov. 11, 2015. Gov. McCauliff announced numbers Tuesday showing a 24% increase in the 2014 oyster harvest.
![Kelsey Brunton, a Christopher Newport University student, stacks an oyster...]()
Sangjib Min, Daily Press
Kelsey Brunton, a Christopher Newport University student, stacks an oyster bag as she and other CNU students clean up oyster shells for a restoration project at VIMS in Gloucester on Thursday, March 12, 2009. CNU students spent their spring break helping with oyster restoration projects.
![The work day comes early for watermen who work the...]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
The work day comes early for watermen who work the James River to harvest oysters from it's depths. Lee West of Gloucester (far left) Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island (center) and Calvin Phelps of Gloucester converse with the issues of the day as they wait for time to leave the docks at Deep Creek in Newport New to travel to the oyster beds off of Blunt Point in Newport News.
![Emeril's TV crew followied Tommy Leggett, oyster grower, around the...]()
Joe Fudge, Daily Press
Emeril's TV crew followied Tommy Leggett, oyster grower, around the VIMS campus where they grow spat oysters. The spats are grown inside large tanks on used oyster shells. The shells are transplanted later into local rivers to grow. Here, Tommy Leggett talks with Nancy Swenton, field producer before a shoot.
![The crew of an oyster boat sorts oysters on the...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
The crew of an oyster boat sorts oysters on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH122
![Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island pilots the "Minimum Wage" as...]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island pilots the "Minimum Wage" as Lee West empties another basket of oysters harvested from the James River.
![Shaw Rose retrieves an oyster dredge on his boat on...]()
Steve Helber / Associated Press
Shaw Rose retrieves an oyster dredge on his boat on the Rappahannock River near White Stone, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTKSH108
![Laura Engelund, an oyster reef ball technician with the Chesapeake...]()
Chuck Epes, Daily Press
Laura Engelund, an oyster reef ball technician with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, (foreground) tosses oysters in the York River to create a sanctuary.
![Suffolk residents Karla Smith, left, and Les Ward worked with...]()
Heather S. Hughes, Daily Press
Suffolk residents Karla Smith, left, and Les Ward worked with several others over about two years to complete the book "The River Binds Us" which is about the oyster fishermen and communities in the area. The two oyster boats behind them belong to the last oyster fisherman on Chuckatuck Creek.
![Dan Bacot stands among stacks of three foot tall oyster...]()
Jonathan Cawley, Daily Press
Dan Bacot stands among stacks of three foot tall oyster aquaculture cages on one of his York River Yacht Haven piers in this photo from 2006.
![With the temperatures dropping, rain falling and snow threatening, watermen...]()
Adrin Snider, Daily Press
With the temperatures dropping, rain falling and snow threatening, watermen Leroy Turner of Gwynn's Island works aboard the "Minimum Wage" with Timmy Forrest (at far right) to unload the last of 20 bushels of oysters at Deep Creek in Newport News.
Portions of rivers and bays in Hampton Roads are closed to commercial shellfish harvesting through October after Hurricane Matthew triggered sewage spills and localized flooding.
The Virginia Department of Health issued emergency shellfish closures for areas of the lower James River in Newport News, the Nansemond River in Suffolk, the Back River in Hampton and Poquoson, and the Lynnhaven, Broad and Linkhorn bays in Virginia Beach.
Remnants of Matthew struck the area two weekends ago with the kind of heavy rains that can overwhelm septic and wastewater systems, washing pollutants into creeks, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
The Health Department’s Division of Shellfish Sanitation states on its website that designated areas “likely (contain) pathogenic bacteria and viruses” and aren’t safe to harvest shellfish for market. The closures are to protect public health.
State scientists will monitor the seawater and shellfish in the affected areas to determine if they can be safely re-opened sooner.
Maps and coordinates of the closed areas can be found at http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/EnvironmentalHealth/Shellfish/.
Dietrich can be reached by phone at 757-247-7892.
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