With a few numbers ticking up and a few going down, the total area of local waters condemned to shellfish harvesting increased by 129 acres between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017.

Figures released by the Virginia Department of Health, Division of Shoreline Sanitation, show 5,296.9 acres of waterways in Gloucester, Mathews, and those shared with neighboring counties, from which shellfish may not be harvested. Some prohibitions are permanent, some conditional, and some dependent on the results of periodic water quality sampling.

Sarah’s Creek and Wilson Creek in Gloucester had acreage drops, but 190.6 acres in Purtan Creek and Leigh Creek were added to the list to account for most of the increase of 91 acres in Gloucester’s roughly 2,000 acres of condemned waterways.

Billups Creek had a 34-acre increase, Hudgins Creek went back on the list after missing last year, and other Mathews waterways had slight ups and downs to account for a total increase of about 76 acres of water...