Oyster season opened throughout the Chesapeake Bay on Oct. 1 and is slated to remain open until the end of December.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission last week decided to open all public oyster grounds at the same time instead of on a staggered basis in response to pleas from the industry, said John Bull, spokesman for VMRC.

He said watermen hope that a bad season for watermen in the Gulf of Mexico will be a good season for Virginia watermen. The oyster season along the Gulf Coast is still being affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"Oyster prices are good because there aren’t as many oysters in the Gulf of Mexico," said Bull.

Only two public grounds in Virginia remain closed—Pocomoke Sound and Eastern Shore seaside—and that’s because Tangier Island watermen wanted it that way, said Bull.

He said that in December VMRC will take a look at the stock and see if any of the areas have enough oysters left to justify keeping those a...