Maryland Oysters
The Chesapeake once teemed with oysters. Tens of thousands of acres of oyster bottom lined the Bay. Oysters have always been an important part of the diet of those who lived on the Atlantic coast and are an important species to the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem. Today it is estimated that the Bay’s oyster population is at less than 1% of its historical level. In the late 1800's and early 1900's unregulated over-harvesting lead to the initial decline in the oyster population. Then in the 1980's the oyster diseases MSX and Dermo caused another drastic decline in the population. Harvests which exceeded 15 million bushels in the late 1800's and sustained an average of 2 to 3 million bushels through much of the mid 20th century, dropped to 26,495 bushels in 2004. In 1960, the State of Maryland started an oyster repletion program in response to declining harvests. Today, along with many other groups the Maryland DNR works to restore the native oyster for both its ecological and economic importance.
To see more about what’s being done with oysters, you can see what the State of Maryland is doing though its programs and the actions of its citizens by following the links below.
