Update: The Maryland Department of Natural Resources presented part of its first-ever state oyster stock assessment on November 19, 2018. The results found that oyster populations in Maryland declined by more than half in the past 20 years, from about 600 million market-size oysters in 1999 to fewer than 300 million in early 2018. Read More
Since colonial times, the Chesapeake (meaning "great shellfish Bay" in Algonquin) has lost more than 98 percent of its oysters. Gone are the days when oyster reefs posed navigational hazards to Chesapeake Bay explorers or watermen pulled 17 million bushels of oysters each year. Now, Maryland and Virginia watermen and the seafood industry have lost $4 billion in income in the past 30 years alone. But all is not lost.
A two-month Maryland Department of Natural Resources survey conducted in 2011 revealed higher levels of oyster reproduction and a lower mortality rate. In fact, Chesapeake Bay oysters seem to be growing heartier and more robust. Given that each adult oyster filters and cleans up to 50 gallons of water per day—gobbling up algae, and removing dirt and nitrogen pollution—that's good news for the health of the Chesapeake Bay and for us.
After a devastating bout with disease in the late 1980s combined with decades of overharvesting, habitat destruction, and water pollution, the oyster was hanging on by a thread. "That was a turning point really," says CBF Fisheries Director Bill Goldsborough, "because up until that point, for the previous 100 years, oysters had supported the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay."
Now, thanks to increased awareness, extensive restoration efforts such as CBF's citizen oyster-gardening program and reef ball production, resisting the introduction of a non-native oyster species, and favorable weather conditions, there is hope for the mighty oyster yet. Find out more about the state of today's oyster fishery.
Learn more about CBF's oyster restoration efforts.
Support Efforts to Restore Three-Dimensional Reefs to the Bay
SPREAD the word to your neighbors and friends about how important oysters are to the health of the waters and wildlife of the Bay.
SHARE your support for oyster recovery—and especially the unique value of vertical reefs—by writing a letter in your local paper or to state officials responsible for oyster restoration.
VOLUNTEER with CBF's active oyster restoration program by building reef balls, cleaning shells, or becoming an oyster gardener. Visit cbf.org/oysters
for more info.
MAKE A DONATION to support our oyster restoration program by giving the gift of oysters from our online Giving Catalog at cbf.org/catalog.
Multimedia
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Let Science Be Your Guide
20 Dec 2016 Episode 46 | 44:03CBF President Will Baker and retiring CBF Fisheries Scientist Bill Goldsborough discuss the progress made using the science-based management of rockfish, crabs, oysters, and menhaden over the last decades.
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Live with CBF's Oyster Restoration Team
07 Dec 2016 Facebook Live 00:03:06In this Facebook Live video,we're on the banks of the South River in Annapolis with CBF'S MD Oyster Restoration Specialist Pat Beall.
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Seeding Our Future
19 Jul 2016 Episode 35 | 23:39CBF President Will Baker talks with Jackie Shannon and Heather North, experts from CBF's Virginia oyster restoration center, about rebuilding the Bay's living water treatment centers.
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Beneath the Surface-Exploring the Severn River
18 Jul 2016 0:39:00Take a trip beneath the surface of the Severn where we see incredible signs of the Bay's recovery
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Planting Oysters on Maryland's Eastern Shore
25 May 2016 0:01:26Karl Willey, CBF's MD Oyster Restoration Manager and "Patricia Campbell" Captain, explains how he builds a 30-foot wide oyster reef on the Little Choptank River with four million baby oysters!