A waterman harvests oysters in Fishing Bay, Dorchester County. Photo by William Whaley, winning entry in 2017 Maryland DNR Photo Contest (second place, winter category).
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources estimates that over 430,000 bushels of oysters were harvested commercially in Maryland from October 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024. This was the fifth season in the past 30 years when the harvest surpassed 400,000 bushels.
“Maryland’s oyster population has notably improved in recent years,” said Department of Natural Resources Shellfish Division Director Christopher Judy. “This season’s harvest far exceeded the average yield over the last several decades.”
The preliminary harvest numbers are based on Maryland seafood dealer buy tickets. The estimated dockside value of this year’s oyster harvest is $15 million, with an average dockside price per bushel of $35.
Limited market demand partially disadvantaged the 23-24 oyster season’s success, which pushed watermen to keep their boats tied up several days a week. In the past two seasons, when the harvests exceeded 700,000 and 500,000 bushels, oystermen were working and delivering product to the shucking houses virtually every day.
Another factor at play was oyster abundance. This season, there were generally fewer oysters in the population available for harvest than in the prior two seasons. Oyster abundance is strongly affected by spat set, the quantity of newly-attached juvenile oysters growing on existing shells. Strong sets yield a robust population several years later, after the young oysters have grown. Low sets yield a lower population.
The very strong spat set of 2020 helped produce the recent high harvests of 500,000 and 700,00 bushels but the lower spat sets of 2021 and 2022 offered a lower abundance of market oysters for the fishery currently.
Most recently, the 2023 Fall Oyster Survey recorded a high spat set, spread across a broader geographic area than usual for Maryland. “With the right environmental conditions, the notably widespread spatset from last summer could bode well for future harvests,” Judy said.
All sectors of Maryland’s oyster management efforts are experiencing growth. The 2023-24 season saw a record yield of oysters from shellfish aquaculture operations and many oyster sanctuaries are showing promising signs of recovery.
A waterman harvests oysters in Fishing Bay, Dorchester County. Photo by William Whaley, winning entry in 2017 Maryland DNR Photo Contest (second place, winter category).
