EASTON, MARYLAND — Oyster sanctuaries in the Miles River, the Wye River and Eastern Bay would get a new round of young oysters next year under a $1.1 million state contract on the Board of Public Works agenda for Wednesday, Nov. 18.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is asking the board to award the contract to Oyster Recovery Partnership Inc. of Annapolis to produce spat-on-shell and plant it on reefs in the oyster sanctuaries of the Eastern Bay region. Spat are oyster larvae that have settled and attached permanently to a shell, where they grow into oysters, according to the agenda. The contract would run from Feb. 1, 2027, through Jan. 31, 2028, with a not-to-exceed amount of $1.1 million.
The agenda lists seven sanctuaries in the Eastern Bay region: Cox Creek, Prospect Bay–Cabin Creek, Prospect Bay, Mill Hill, Wye River, Miles River and Eastern Bay. The work would cover all of them except Prospect Bay–Cabin Creek.
The department calls the Eastern Bay region historically important for oyster management in Maryland. It identified the region as a priority area for restoration and started what it calls the Eastern Bay Project. The department presented the project to the state's Oyster Advisory Commission, which endorsed it, according to the agenda.
Two firms bid. Oyster Recovery Partnership ranked first on both its technical proposal and its price, offering $581,625, compared with $710,156.25 from WRF Group LLC of Cambridge. The department asked for prices two ways: with the contractor supplying the oyster larvae, or with the department supplying them. It chose the second option, saying it offers more spat-on-shell to be planted than first expected, and is asking to award the full $1.1 million available for the work. Oyster Recovery Partnership is the incumbent contractor.
The money comes from a 2026 state funding line to design and build oyster habitat restoration projects, according to the agenda.
The board meets online and at the State House in Annapolis. Items on its agenda can be approved, disapproved, deferred or withdrawn.
Source: Maryland Board of Public Works
Drawn from public records; drafted with AI and edited by Peter Gorman before publication.
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