Operation Build-A-Reef plants 18 million oysters in Chesapeake Bay

TALBOT COUNTY, Md. – Oysters are a crucial part of the ecosystem within the Chesapeake Bay.

“It’s part of being a Marylander.”

Maintaining their population is important to keeping other species healthy, and water quality safe. That’s why Operation Build-A-Reef Eastern Bay got to work on Thursday; planting baby oysters, with the hope that they will thrive.

“It feels like it’s part of being a Marylander,” remarked Allison Albert Guercio as she watched the Poppa Francis spread oyster shells, covered in spat, or baby oysters. Guercio is the Marketing and Fundraising director for the Oyster Recovery Project (ORP).

“The vessel holds 18 million oysters,” said Guercio. “It’s piled up high, and then to let them out on the planting site, they open up the gunwales, and there’s a watermen aboard who sprays them overboard gently.”

Protecting Environment, Supporting Economy

It’s a regular practice between April and September; all in an effort to keep the bay’s water healthy. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) assigns a reef site, and ORP, ShoreRivers, and contracted watermen get to work.

“[Oysters] provide a major filtration benefit to the water. We have cleaner water, we have more submerged aquatic vegetation growing, we have cooler water, more oxygenated water that allows a lot of other Chesapeake species to thrive,” said Sassafras Riverkeeper, Captain Zack Kelleher, of ShoreRivers.

Captain Kellehber adds, oysters also help drive the local economy. “We have a ton of hard-working watermen here, that go out and depend on this resource. We have a lot of aqua-culturists who go out and raise farm-raised oysters. We’re all kind of fighting for the same thing, which is clean water,” he said.”

Preparing For Planting

Before the oysters could be distributed, there was some groundwork to do.

“Before [this] planting, we put down about 1,800 bushels of oyster shell, which just create additional hard bottom that maybe future oysters could settle on, and adhere to,” said Guercio.

But, projects like this, don’t come without a price tag, or necessary support, either.

“People want clean water, and so they’re really fired up about it. They contributed in a very meaningful way. We were able to raise close to $80,000 to cover the expenses here,” said Captain Kelleher. “ShoreRivers really activated our membership. Using our donors, our sponsors, our community connections that we have here, we were able to get the word out about the importance of oyster restoration.”

“We received a lot of significant support from DNR. Operation Build-A-Reef has been a two-year process. Last, year ORP with DNR’s financial support planted 75 million oysters here in the Eastern Bay,” added Guercio.

Get Involved

And, if you’re not lucky enough to be a part of this program, there are other things you  can do at home to play your part. Captain Kelleher says that includes planting native plants, reducing fertilizers, maintaining natural buffers, and keeping water top of mind.

“Our data shows that the majority of the pollution entering our waterways is coming from directly within that local watershed,” said Captain Kelleher. “So, that means we all have a role to play. There’s something that all of us can be doing right now, starting today.”

Captain Kelleher says if you live on a waterfront property, or near a public dock, you have a unique opportunity to get involved in saving the oysters. “You can actually raise your own spat on shell in cages. Then, we take those at least once or twice a year, and go plant them on local oyster bars.”

Click here for more information about the Marylanders Grow Oysters program.