Gov. Larry Hogan's desire to help rural towns on the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland is commendable but not at the expense of saving the Chesapeake's depleted oyster population. If anything, the DNR study's findings ought to encourage a cautious approach given the uncertainties involved. Pollution, loss of habitat, the diseases MSX and Dermo and overharvesting have all been factors in the decline of the oyster. This is a complex biological system affected by, among other things, salinity levels, water temperatures, prevailing currents during the spawning season and, of course, climate change. Thus, oysters can have a great spat set on a Choptank River tributary in the same year that they have a poor one in the lower Potomac River or vice versa.