BACKGROUND
Chesapeake Bay is home to thriving commercial fishing and aquaculture industries and one of the largest oyster restoration efforts in North America. The lack of fresh shell substrate has become a major impediment to all of these activities and alternatives are being considered for large-scale use in restoration and industry efforts. To address this challenge, the Maryland General Assembly mandated a program (SB830 2023) that will evaluate:
- Types of substrate, including fresh shell, fossilized shell, combinations of shell, and alternative substrates, that are most appropriate for use in oyster harvest areas
- Benefits, including habitat-related benefits, of using stones of various sizes in oyster restoration areas
- Alternative substrates used for oyster restoration or repletion in other regions, including the success of efforts to use alternative substrates
- Potential for retrofitting existing structures, such as riprap revetments, that are unrelated to oyster restoration but that use materials similar to artificial reefs, to include oyster plantings
- Effect of spat size upon deployment on oyster abundance.
This webpage summarizes the activities, reports and papers produced during this SB830 Research Program. This program is funded by the State of Maryland and is led by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). For questions, please contact Drs. Matt Gray (mgray@ucmes.edu) and Elizabeth North (enorth@umces.edu) of UMCES Horn Point Laboratory.
ACTIVITIES
Symposium Report Release. North, E., M. Fabra, C. Keitzer, R. Nair, and M. Gray. 2025. Symposium on Alternative Substrate for Oysters: Report on the Virtual Symposium Feb 26-28, 2024. Released March 21, 2025. Addressed topic #3. https://www.umces.edu/sites/default/files/SASSO-Report-2025.pdf
Research presentation: Fabra, M., S. Alexander, V. Lyubchich, O. Caretti, M. Gray, E. North. 2025. Alternative substrates in oyster restoration, aquaculture and fisheries: spat recruitment, toxic leaching and biofilms. Aquaculture 2025 (AQ25). New Orleans, LO. March 8, 2025. Addressed topic #1.
Research presentation: Fabra, M., S. Alexander, V. Lyubchich, O. Caretti, J. Spires, M. Gray, E. North. 2025. Remote setting of Crassostrea virginica: effect of holding times in setting tanks on post-deployment spat survival. Aquaculture 2025 (AQ25). New Orleans, LO. March 8, 2025. Addressed topic #5.
Community presentation: North, E. 2025. Shells and rocks: paving the way to increase oyster habitat in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Talbot County Community Center, Easton, MD. March 4, 2025. Addressed topic #1 and #3.
Symposium: Strengthening Habitats with Oysters on Retrofitted & Engineered Structures (SHORES) symposium. 2025. Addressed topic #4. February 25-26, 2025. Addressed topic #4.
SHORES: Strengthening Habitats with Oysters on Retrofitted & Engineered Structures
Research presentation: North, E., M. Gray, M. Fabra, S. Alexander, O. Caretti, C. Keitzer, V. Lyubchich, E. Merk, R. Nair. 2025. SB830 alternative substrate evaluations and symposium update. Maryland Watermen’s Association Commercial Fishing Trade Expo. Ocean City, MD. January 18, 2025. Addressed topic #1 and #3.
Booth Host: Maryland Watermen’s Association Commercial Fishing Trade Expo. 2025. North, E., UMCES HPL with co-Host Allison Tracy, UMBC IMET. Ocean City, Maryland. January 17-19, 2025. Addressed topic #1.
Research presentation: North, E., M. Gray, M. Fabra, S. Alexander, O. Caretti, C. Keitzer, V. Lyubchich, E. Merk, R. Nair. 2024. SB830 alternative substrate evaluations and symposium update. Maryland Shellfish Aquaculture Conference. Annapolis, MD. November 12, 2024. Addressed topic #1 and #3.
Research presentation: Fabra, M., S. Alexander, V. Lyubchich, O. Caretti, M. Gray, E. North. 2024. Alternative substrates in oyster restoration, aquaculture and fisheries: spat recruitment, toxic leaching and biofilms. International Conference of Shellfish Restoration (ICSR24). Jekyll Island, September 17, 2024. Addressed topic #1.
Alternative Substrate Experiment. Fabra, M., S. Alexander, V. Lyubchich, O. Caretti, M. Gray, E. North. 2024. UMCES Horn Point Laboratory. Cambridge, MD. May - October, 2024. Addressed topic #1.
Hatchery Production Experiment. Fabra, M., S. Alexander, V. Lyubchich, O. Caretti, J. Spires, M. Gray, E. North. 2024. UMCES Horn Point Laboratory and Cooperative Oxford Laboratory. Cambridge and Oxford, MD. June, 2024 - March, 2025. Addressed topic #5.
Management presentation: North, E., M. Gray, M. Fabra. 2024. Maryland's Oyster Shell and Substrate Taskforce. SB830 Alternative Substrate Evaluations and Symposium Update. Annapolis, MD and virtual. March 11, 2024. Addressed topics #1-5.
Symposium: The Symposium for Alternative Substrates for Oysters (SASSO). 2024. Addressed topic #3. February 26-28, 2024. Addressed topic #3.
Symposium for Alternative Substrates for Oysters (SASSO)
Booth Host: Maryland Watermen’s Association Commercial Fishing Trade Expo. 2024. North, E., UMCES HPL with co-Host Allison Tracy, UMBC IMET. Ocean City, Maryland. Ocean City, Maryland. January 12-13, 2024. Addressed topics #1-5.
Management presentation: North, E., M. Gray. 2024. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Oyster Advisory Commission. Evaluating oyster substrate and hatchery production. Virtual. January 9, 2024. Addressed topics #1-5.
Management presentation: Gray, M. E. North. 2023. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Aquaculture Coordinating Council. Virtual. November 9, 2023. Addressed topics #1-5.
REPORTS, PAPERS, AND BOOKLETS
2025
- Report on the 2024 Symposium for Alternative Substrates for Oysters (SASSO)
- Program booklet for the 2025 SHORES Symposium: Strengthening Habitats with Oysters on Retrofitted & Engineered Structures (SHORES)
2024
- Program booklet for the 2024 Symposium for Alternative Substrates for Oysters (SASSO)
Last updated: March 24, 2025