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Residents help regrow Maryland oyster population
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Sun sets over an oyster bed.
Bob Wood isn’t waiting for someone else to restore the dwindling oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.
Wood and about two dozen other waterfront property owners along Hellen Creek in Calvert County will be tending to oyster floats that will then move to a sanctuary in the Bay.
“This is a chance for people to take it into their own hands and not expect the state to figure it out,” Wood said.
The floats are the second phase of a program run by the Patuxent River chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association Maryland.
The group placed more than 25,000 baby oysters on 45 floats along piers this week. Homeowners, who purchased the $175 floats, will check on them once a month, turning the floats in the water and making sure the oysters are healthy.
“If every one could do this it would help a lot more,” Wood said.
An adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day, and oyster restoration has been seen as a critical piece to improving the water quality of the bay. The Bay oyster population is estimated at just 1 percent of its historic high.
Environmentalists want to expand the project to creeks all along the watershed, said Chris Moe, an association member and captain of the Hellen Creek project.
“If this template is successful, we will start appointing creek captains and training them and then roll on from there,” Moe said.
The conservation group started the effort in March to first test their oyster-growing skills before reaching out to homeowners. They grew 25,000 oysters on floats in St. Thomas Creek, which runs through Charles and St. Mary’s counties.
Organizers have learned a lot about how to get people involved and distribute the floats, and they plan to write a manual for oyster-raising, said Scott McGuire, president of the Maryland chapter.
“A lot of times, we sit back and complain about the status of the restoration of the Bay,” he said.
“This is a great example of being able to do something.”
smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com
