Donate here to help restore oyster habitat in the Herring Bay Sanctuary
AHB’s Oyster Restoration Project
Did you know oysters play a crucial role in maintaining water quality and providing food and habitat for marine life in the Chesapeake Bay? Unfortunately, over-harvesting, disease and habitat loss have led to a severe drop in native oyster populations. Herring Bay needs your help reversing this trend!
To help the oysters, the Advocates for Herring Bay (AHB) are spearheading a “Happy Oysters, Healthy Bay” campaign to restore oyster habitat on a 3-acre site in the Herring Bay Oyster Sanctuary. The first phase of this community-sponsored campaign is to plant up to 10 million juvenile oysters by 2025 at a cost of about $40,000 over the two-year period.
You can be a part of this transformative effort! A $50 donation will pay for one bushel of juvenile oysters, while $1,000 will cover the cost of 250,000 juveniles. Click the link below to donate and help rebuild oyster reefs that will clean the water and increase the abundance of crabs and fish in Herring Bay. Every dollar counts!
For more information about this project, the success of past restoration efforts in Herring Bay, and other facts about oysters and their habitats, see the FAQ segments below.
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Help Restore Oyster Habitat in the Herring Bay Sanctuary
Your contributions—big or small—will make a difference!
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About the Herring Bay and Other Oyster Sanctuaries
The new citizen-sponsored project being coordinated by AHB aims to restore oyster habitat on a 3-acre site in the Herring Bay Oyster Sanctuary. Here’s why being in a sanctuary matters.
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Herring Bay's Oyster Habitat
Oysters grow in a variety of physical conditions around the world, but they like some environments better than others. Recent results suggest that Herring Bay has what it takes to succeed.
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Benefits of Restoring Oyster Habitat
Oysters clean the water and serve as “keystone” species that could rejuvenate the biodiversity of the bay. Here are some of the ways our investment in restoration would help the bay’s environment and its people.
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Past and Present Restoration Activities
Oysters flourished in Herring Bay for thousands of years, as evidenced by huge oyster middens along its shoreline. The oyster population has dramatically fallen since then, but recent restoration efforts by citizens and the State of Maryland offer hope for a rebound of this vital species.
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What It Takes to Build a Reef
Oyster restoration is not easy or cheap. The process starts by breeding microscopic larvae and ends with heavy machinery—or strong backs—delivering juvenile oysters to a home on the bottom of the Bay. Multiply the dollars and cents by the billions of larvae needed across the expanse of the bay, and you’re “talking real money!”