The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science plays a key role in the efforts to restore populations of the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, in the Chesapeake Bay. These include research on the biology and ecology of C. virginica and active participation in restoration of oyster reef habitat and populations being supported by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Most of these restoration efforts are conducted in partnership with the Oyster Recovery Partnership, a non-profit coalition that arranges funding, plans, and implement the restoration activities. 

Faculty Research

• Immunology, toxicology and disease susceptibility: Dr. Robert Anderson, CBL

• Reproduction and larval behavior:  Dr. Victor Kennedy, HPL

• Ecosystem influences, including filtration and nitrogen cycling: Dr. Roger Newell, HPL

• Modeling of larval dispersal and filtration: Dr. Elizabeth North, HPL

• Aquaculture:  Dr. Donald Meritt, HPL

• Genetics, disease and monitoring restoration:  Dr. Kennedy Paynter, CBL

The definitive treatise on the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, was complied by UMCES faculty members Victor Kennedy and Roger Newell.

Restoration Programs

Horn Point Laboratory Shellfish Culture Facility Click photo for a streaming video of a restoration site at Neils Reef, Patuxent River--more at Paynter Labs site.  More about oysters

Disease-free Oyster Seed Production  The shellfish culture facility at the Horn Point Laboratory is the mainstay of Maryland's native oyster restoration efforts.  Over 500 million disease-free seed oysters have been produced, 400 million of which were used in the numerous oyster  restoration projects of the Oyster Recovery Partnership, which are located throughout the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake.  The full-scale operation of the new Aquaculture and Restoration Laboratory, coupled with planned setting facilities at the Horn Point pier, is expected to allow expansion to 750 million juvenile oysters per year to be used in oyster restoration projects.  The Horn Point culture facility also produces most of the juvenile oysters used by the growing cadre of oyster gardeners and develops procedures to be used in expansion of shellfish aquaculture in Maryland. Monitoring of Restoration Sites                      UMCES is also responsible for monitoring of oyster restoration sites, a critical part of the evolving restoration program.  Oyster abundance, size, mortality, disease, and recruitment is monitored, along with environmental conditions, associated animal life, and sediment rates.  Use of underwater video has proven particularly effective in demonstrating how the restored sites function as a living reef. Genetically Disease Resistant Strains UMCES collaborates in the Cooperative Regional Oyster Selective Breeding (CROSBreed) project together with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Rutgers and the University of Delaware.  The goal is to continue a long-term selective breeding program for disease resistance in the Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica.