Strict Limits Set For Commercial, Recreational Oyster Harvesting

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has issued season limits for the 2019-2020 oyster harvesting season effective at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 19. The 2019-2020 season will officially begin Oct. 1 with no commercial harvesting allowed on Wednesdays and there will be temporary closures to wild harvesting in certain areas where there is a low count of oysters, low natural spat set or where spat-on-shell plantings are being protected, including some areas north of the Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bay Bridge.

The recreational harvest also will be limited to three days a week (Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only) with no harvesting after noon and a 50 percent reduction in harvest limits.

Department scientists expect that these measures will result in approximately a net 26 percent reduction in oyster harvest, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources stated. The approach was developed using modeling of historic data, findings of the 2018 Oyster Stock Assessment and input from stakeholders and others gleaned during a public meeting with the Oyster Advisory Commission, the Sport Fish Advisory Commission and the Tidal Fish Advisory Commission.

That information will be combined with other measures outlined in Maryland’s new Oyster Management Plan — the first revision in a decade — with a goal of increasing oyster populations and garnering a sustainable oyster fishery in eight to 10 years.

“The department’s Oyster Management Plan establishes a robust and science-driven framework for a sustainable fishery, which is an ecological and economic priority for the state,” Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said in a statement. “With an eight- to 10-year timeframe set as our goal, it is important that we begin implementation as soon as possible. If we combine sustainable fishing practices with other measures such as strategic investment, habitat restoration and sanctuaries, the result will be real, long-term solutions for the resource.”

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation issued a statement stating that it does not believe the changes will significantly reduce the harvest or protect existing oyster populations.

“DNR has an obligation to use the best available science to protect and conserve the state’s resources for all Marylanders. Their own analysis shows this proposal will have little, if any, impact to conserve oysters. These are halfhearted attempts that fail to address overfishing or the systemic and chronic decline of Maryland’s oyster population. We can’t keep putting off this problem," stated Allison Colden, CBF’s Maryland fisheries scientist, in a statement.