MetCom Provides Grant for Oyster Revitalization Efforts

The St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission will provide annual grants to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission for oyster revitalization projects.

Oyster revitalization provides broad ecological benefits, but it requires considerable funding and resources. To help expedite progress, MetCom has agreed to provide supplemental financial support for projects within the tidal Potomac River.

The grant funds will be used to purchase and plant wild oyster seed, spat-on-shell, and oyster shells in designated Special Management Areas and other suitable sites within the PRFC jurisdiction to increase biomass and suitable substrate for reproduction events. Scaled to a funding level of $10,000 per year, it is anticipated that the PRFC could plant over 700 bushels of wild oyster seed or 350,000 seed oysters equating to an estimated 2.6 million eyed larvae and up to two acres of oyster ground.

The typical oyster site-specific project can cost between $50,000 and $100,000.

The primary goal is to help enhance the ecological health of local rivers by increasing the population of Eastern oysters, which play a critical role in improving water quality, water clarity (by filtering algae, sediment, and other pollutants) and by providing food and habitat for various species.

MetCom is excited about the new partnership which is in line with its mission to be environmental stewards in the operation and maintenance of the public wastewater conveyance and treatment systems.

“We purposefully chose to fund the effort on SMAs because they are managed more conservatively than public oyster bars and would therefore provide more of an environmental benefit to our waterways,” said Gerald Meyerman, MetCom chairman.

These types of projects will have limited harvesting windows (some partially or permanently closed) and restrictions on various types of gear allowed to be utilized (e.g., only hand-operated gear not mechanical – rakes, diving, and hand tongs).