A recent assessment from the Department of Natural Resources shows Maryland’s oyster stock at a near-record of 12 billion.
The population of Maryland’s oysters has grown significantly in the past 20 years, according to the results of the latest benchmark stock assessment for the species.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science released the summary results of the stock assessment.
The report estimated that more than 12 billion oysters live in Maryland’s waters of the Chesapeake Bay in 2024, including about 7.6 billion adult oysters and over 5 billion spat, or juvenile oysters. The assessment estimates there were only 2.4 billion adult oysters in 2005.
Summary results give insight into multiple aspects of the oyster population and oyster fishery, with the full report scheduled to be released by DNR in June. As overall oyster abundance increased in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay, researchers found positive population growth at many oyster restoration sanctuaries as well as decreased fishing pressure in harvest areas compared to the previous stock assessment completed in 2018.