The Chesapeake Bay is bouncing back after decades of pollution, according to an NBC article. Chesapeake Bay is supplied by a 64,000-square-mile watershed spanning Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. <\/p>\n
Since the 1980s, the bay suffered high nutrient and sediment levels, due to pollution from waste runoff. In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency forced the six states and D.C. to clean up their acts. By 2017, 60 percent of pollution control measures must be in place. The rest must be met by 2025.<\/p>\n
The bay\u2019s health has improved, thanks to cleanup efforts. Although Chesapeake Bay is recovering, it is too soon to tell for its famed blue crabs. The blue crabs\u2019 recovery has been difficult to predict because of multiple factors. The crab count report and a winter dredge survey will be available this month.<\/p>\n
Top image:\u00a0The Chesapeake blue crab \u2014 which turns reddish orange when cooked \u2014 could disappear from the bay within a century if water quality and fishing pressure don\u2019t improve. (Credit: Maryland GovPics\/CC BY 2.0)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Chesapeake Bay is bouncing back after decades of pollution, according to an NBC article. Chesapeake Bay is supplied by a 64,000-square-mile watershed spanning Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. Since the 1980s, the bay suffered high nutrient and sediment levels, due to pollution from waste runoff. In 2010, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":21950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,44],"tags":[118,211,103,347],"class_list":["post-21949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-oceans-coasts","tag-aquatic-species","tag-chesapeake-bay","tag-news-2","tag-oceans-coasts"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\n