BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has announced the selection of three new sites for large-scale oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. This marks the beginning of the state’s next phase of major oyster restoration efforts. The new sanctuaries will be located in Herring Bay, the Nanticoke River, and Hoopers Strait. These sites were chosen based on their potential […]
BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Natural Resources this week released harvest totals for the 2023-2024 season harvesting season. The commercial harvest of oysters in Maryland totaled 430,000 bushels from October 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. This is the fifth season in the past three decades to exceed the 400,000 bushel harvest mark. “Maryland’s oyster population has notably improved in […]
BALTIMORE, MD—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced that it will award a $10 million grant for the construction of a new oyster sanctuary in the Chesapeake Bay. The funding will help establish a sustainable future for the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population, which is critical to the health of the bay’s ecosystems and economy. The new reef will […]
BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Natural Resources released new data this week that shows a record high of oysters harvested by commercial shellfish operations in the state. The DNR reports that 466 commercial shellfish operations leased 7,478 acres of state waters in 2023. The total harvest for 2023 was 94,286 bushels, which is an increase from 94,257 bushels in 2022. […]
BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Fall Oyster Survey recorded a remarkable year for juvenile oysters in Maryland waters, finding both prolific numbers and a widespread distribution throughout many regions of the Chesapeake Bay. The survey’s spatfall intensity index, a measure of reproductive success and potential population growth for oysters, was 86.8 spat, or juvenile oysters, per bushel, nearly […]
BALTIMORE, MD-The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has issued season limits for the 2019-2020 oyster harvesting season. The 2019-20 season will begin October 1, 2019 with no commercial harvesting on Wednesdays, and temporary closures to wild harvesting in certain areas where there is a low abundance of oysters, low natural spat set or where spat-on-shell plantings are being protected, including […]