Oyster Farming

Did you know that oysters have a tremendous ecological value? An adult oyster can filter as much as 60 gallons of water a day. The oysters in Chesapeake Bay could once filter a volume of water equal to that of the entire Bay (about 19 trillion gallons) in a week. In the last 100 years the oyster population has been decimated by over harvesting and pollution. Today, it would take the remaining Bay oysters more than a year to filter the Bay waters.

If the population of Bay oysters could be restored to previous levels it would have a very positive impact on purifying the water. Recognizing this, the State of Maryland has created a tax incentive program which gives waterfront property owners a tax credit of $500 per year for each taxpayer and spouse (a total of $1000 per year) for the purchase of aquaculture oyster floats.

BHCEC has teamed with a local company that specializes in oyster aquaculture, Oyster King 1 (OK1), and installed aquaculture oyster floats called "Floating Oyster Hotels" under a number of piers around Black Hole Creek. OK1 seeds the floats with oyster spat which takes about a year to mature. The intent is to continue to add floats every year and then harvest and place the mature oysters on a bed in the Creek.

If you are a waterfront property owner on Black Hole Creek (or anywhere around the Bay) and are interested in participating in this oyster farming initiative please contact any of our Directors.

For more information about oyster farming visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or Oyster King 1 web sites by clicking on the links below:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Oyster King 1