The St. Mary’s River, one of the five tributaries Maryland restored at large scale, is among the best-performing oyster sanctuaries in the state, according to a new Department of Natural Resources report.
DNR released its 2021-2025 Oyster Management Review on Friday, Oct. 2. The review, the department’s five-year check on sanctuaries, public fishery areas and aquaculture, found that the state met or made progress toward its goals in all three. It also found the highest averages in decades for oyster reproduction, habitat and biomass, with low disease and mortality.
“These past five years underscore the remarkable success story for oysters in Maryland,” DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said.
Sanctuaries. Of the state’s 51 sanctuaries, DNR counts 33 as restored, trending positively or undergoing restoration, compared with four that are not performing better since being designated. Five are fully restored and 12 show positive growth or densities above 94.2 oysters per square meter. Another 16 have received or have plans for restoration or plantings, four are being evaluated for corrective action, and 14 are set aside for research and education or lack data. The St. Mary’s River joins the Little Choptank, Nanticoke, Harris Creek, Upper Choptank, Hoopers Strait and Tred Avon among the top performers.
The St. Mary’s River result builds on local work. Maryland finished large-scale restoration of the sanctuary in 2022 as one of five tributaries completed under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Last year the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association counted a record 4,427 juvenile oysters per cage, more than 11 times the prior record, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland alumni planted about 25,500 more oysters on a five-acre reef there.
Harvest areas. Most non-sanctuary areas saw significant gains in oyster density, market-sized oysters and biomass. The 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons were the highest in decades, generating more than $21 million and $31 million in dockside value. The Upper Patuxent River, which borders Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, ranked among the top harvest areas, along with Broad Creek, Tred Avon, Smith Creek, the Middle Choptank and the Wicomico River East. The report also notes that some higher-salinity areas had more disease mortality in 2023, that low recruitment in the Lower Chester River led to local harvest closures, and that watermen faced market and weather hardships last winter.
Aquaculture. Maryland has 471 active leases covering 7,622 acres. Harvest from leases grew from 22,428 bushels in 2013 to 94,286 in 2023, and DNR estimates the industry’s economic impact at more than $13 million a year.
The state’s oyster population more than tripled from 2005 to 2023, according to a 2024 stock assessment, though it remains a fraction of its historic size.
The policy fight. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the results show sanctuaries should stay fully protected. “These results prove that we must stay the course,” said Julie Luecke, the foundation’s Maryland coastal resource scientist. The group points to a House appropriations bill, H.R. 8845, that cleared committee 32-28 in May. According to the foundation, it would limit federal restoration money to reefs opened to harvest three years after planting and bar further funding for sites deemed underperforming for five years. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., supports the provision. Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office has signaled it would try to remove it in Senate talks, the Bay Journal reported. A bipartisan July poll of 586 Maryland voters found 78% support for keeping sanctuaries, 8% opposed.
The full report and appendices are on DNR’s oyster review page.
