Chesapeake Bay Program partners recently came together to celebrate achieving a major outcome under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement: restoring oyster reef habitat in 10 tributaries by the end of 2025.

Representatives from federal and state agencies, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, industry and more came together for an event to mark this milestone in Annapolis on September 17.

In their remarks, speakers from the Chesapeake Bay Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Virginia Department of Natural and Historic Resources, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District emphasized how a strong partnership made achieving such a big goal possible.

These agencies, together with additional partners in Maryland and Virginia, bolstered oyster populations and restored and sustained oyster reef habitat around the Bay, including:

• 10 tributaries—5 each in Maryland and Virginia, plus a bonus 11th tributary in Virginia
• 1,900 acres of oyster reef habitat actively restored, including reef construction and/or seeding with juvenile oysters; roughly 7.5 billion oysters were planted in the effort
• 500 acres in the 10 tributaries that were identified as thriving oyster reefs during prerestoration scientific surveys
• Together, that’s 2,400 acres of oyster reef habitat—roughly 3.75 square miles, or more than 1,800 football fields

Captain Wayne Goddard points out baby oysters, known as spat-on-shell. (Photo by Charlie Nick/Chesapeake Bay Program)

The partnership’s work has supported healthy reefs in these tributaries:

• Great Wicomico River, Virginia
• Harris Creek, Maryland
• Lafayette River, Virginia
• Little Choptank River, Maryland
• Lower York River, Virginia
• Lynnhaven River, Virginia
• Manokin River, Maryland
• Piankatank River, Virginia
• Tred Avon River, Maryland
• Upper St. Mary’s River, Maryland
• plus a bonus tributary, the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, Virginia

Agencies expressed their eagerness to keep the momentum rolling toward increasing oysters and oyster reef habitat. That’s because oyster reefs provide important habitat, help filter the water and support commercially and recreationally important species.

While the specifics are still being refined, it is expected that the updated Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which will guide the Chesapeake Bay Program’s work after 2025, will include goals for additional oyster reef restoration as well as goals related to aquaculture and the wild oyster fishery.