*This is a wiki page. If you would like to share your knowledge please apply for access here.

Grow Oysters


An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, removing plankton (nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing algae) and sediment from the water.  As the oyster digests the plankton, it excretes the nitrogen, phosphorus and undigested plankton as feces which fall to the bottom.  If the Bay bottom contains sufficient oxygen, these feces will eventually decompose, releasing nitrogen gas which rises to the surface.  At the same time, the oyster turns the sediment into “pseudo-feces” which falls to the bottom.
Until the mid-1980s, oysters were the largest fishery on the Chesapeake Bay.  But epidemics of two nasty oyster diseases coupled with the increasing level of pollution and overfishing have decimated the oyster population.  The oyster population has falled on only 1% of the levels existing fifty years ago.
If you have a pier on the Chesapeake or one of its tributaries, you can help restore the oyster and clean the Bay at the same time.  To maximize the benefit for the Bay, we strongly recommend that you grow oysters for one year under your pier and then give them to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or similar group to plant on a sanctuary oyster reef.  Simply leaving one crop of oysters hanging off your dock for years will not have as much impact on the Bay. 
If you grow 2000 oysters in your float for one year and then transplant them to a reef where 90% survive each year, the oysters you have “foster parented” will remove 28 pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Bay over the next 20 years! 
 
Grow Oysters Under Your Pier
  
You can purchase an oyster float that will float on the surface below your dock, which you can seed with as many as 2500 spat-on-seed or 1000 baby oysters.  If you're interested, please check out the following resources:
Maryland:

Virginia:

Baywide: