Maryland oysters thrive as population reaches second-highest in 41-year modern history
Oyster reproduction reached nearly six times over the long-term average and is the second highest ever recorded in the 41-year modern history of the annual fall oyster survey.
Nick Kosir gets first-hand experience working at an oyster farm
FOX Weather Meteorologist Nick Kosir joined oyster farmers to learn what it is like to work on the water.
MARYLAND – Last year marked a historic year in oyster reproduction across Maryland waters.
Oyster reproduction was nearly six times above the long-term spatset average and the second highest ever recorded in the 41-year modern history of the annual fall oyster survey, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
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Experts are saying that this is the biggest population growth they have seen in decades.
This type of surge creates an opportunity for the local economy to thrive in the seafood industry, while helping maintain the environmental health of the waterways.
Maryland biologists conduct an oyster survey.
Oyster harvesting has brought in an average of more than $18 million annually over the past five years.
According to observations during the fall oyster survey, scientists found an index of 250 juvenile oysters per bushel at various sites. A bushel is a unit of volume used to measure oyster catches.
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Oyster mortality levels were the third lowest since 1985, along with the lowest presence and intensity of the Dermo disease in 36 years.
"In the past year, we learned that the state’s oyster populations have tripled in two decades, and we also wrapped up major projects at our oyster restoration sanctuaries," Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz said. "Now we’re finding that oysters are reproducing at levels we haven’t seen in nearly 30 years."
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Oyster shells with younger oysters growing on on them sit in a bucket after being dropped off by oyster gardening program volunteers at the the Philip Merrill Environmental Center at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 20, 2025. For many just a tasty delicacy, the oyster may actually be the hero the world needs to fight environmental degradation -- and volunteers are battling to repopulate the surprisingly powerful species. "Oyster gardeners" foster mollusks until they are old enough to be planted in the Chesapeake Bay near Washington, DC, where they clean the water and can even offset climate change. (Drew ANGERER / AFP / Getty Images)
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science discovered that the local oyster population had more than tripled since 2005 to more than 7.6 billion adult oysters as of 2023.
It typically takes about 1 to 3 years for an oyster spat to grow into an adult oyster. A mature oyster can fill gallons of water daily, which helps clean the water by consuming algae.
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Maryland agencies have been conducting surveys of oyster reefs annually since 1939, and it is one of the longest-running programs of its kind in the world.