EASTON, MARYLAND — Two Talbot County waters, the Tred Avon River and Harris Creek, rank among Maryland's top-performing oyster sanctuaries in a five-year state review, and the Tred Avon also ranks among the top public harvest areas. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources released the 2021-2025 Oyster Management Review on Friday, Oct. 2.

For watermen and for people who live along those creeks, the review is the state's own scorecard on whether closing some bottom to harvest, managing the rest for the public fishery and leasing ground for aquaculture is working. The department said the state has met or made positive progress toward its objectives in all three areas.

In the public fishery, the review found that a majority of non-sanctuary areas saw significant increases in total live oyster density, market-sized oysters and biomass during the five years. Harvests in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons were the highest in decades, generating more than $21 million and $31 million in dockside value, respectively. The department noted hardships for watermen last winter from market conditions and freezing weather, and said available data suggests large amounts of oysters are present in fishery areas to sustain future harvests. The low-salinity Lower Chester River saw low recruitment that led to some local harvest closures.

Of the 51 sanctuaries, five are the restored large-scale tributary sanctuaries, 12 show positive population growth or average densities above 94.2 oysters per square meter on sampled sites, and 16 have received or have plans for restoration or plantings. Four are underperforming and under evaluation for corrective action.

"These past five years underscore the remarkable success story for oysters in Maryland," Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz said.

The review's Appendix A covers each sanctuary and Appendix B covers public harvest areas, with sampling tables and trend graphs. The main report and both appendices are posted on the department's Oyster Management Review page.