Seeding the Chesapeake Bay with disease-resistant Asian oysters could significantly boost the bay’s depleted population of the water-cleaning shellfish, according to a federal study.

But the study also warns that the foreign species also could harm what’s left of the bay’s native oyster population – and perhaps spread to threaten ecosystems all along the East Coast.

The environmental impact statement lists pros and cons of the controversial proposal to put Asian oysters in the bay, but the $17 million study does not make a recommendation about what route would be best for the bay.

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