Captain Chris Ludford puts his table right in the water. I鈥檓 using the word 鈥渢able鈥 loosely here鈥攊t鈥檚 a bunch of metal oyster cages stacked on top of each other, with a stained piece of wood on top. His guests stand around this table, wearing fisherman waders and rubber boots while Ludford shucks them oysters, one after the other, each pulled from the Lynnhaven River听in eastern Virginia, the same water they鈥檙e all standing in. This is the culminating event of Ludford鈥檚 farm tour, where guests spend an afternoon learning about the history of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and see firsthand how he听grows them听in cages in the brackish waters. But eating these oysters, shucked by the man who grows them himself, is easily the highlight of the tour.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like I鈥檝e got a raw bar听right there on the water,鈥 Ludford says. 鈥淎nd I can barely keep up with demand. Between these farm tours and the accounts where I sell my oysters, it鈥檚 like a gold rush right now. Oysters are hot.鈥
Oyster farms听like the one Ludford runs in the Chesapeake Bay, as entrepreneurs lease farmable acres from the state and grow oysters in cages to meet an insatiable demand from consumers. And here鈥檚 what鈥檚 interesting: this kind of aquaculture听is actually good for the environment. While aquaculture can be , the general consensus from scientists studying Chesapeake Bay is that farming oysters is making the bay healthier by helping remove pollutants. Translation: the more of them you eat, the better it is for the environment.
The Chesapeake Bay is the world鈥檚 second-largest estuary, a 64,000-square-mile body of water听whose shores touch听six different states in the center of the East Coast. Its听sheltered waters used to be littered with wild oysters. Records from the first European explorers in the early 1600s referenced having to navigate around massive oyster reefs, and听oysters pulled from the bay and roasted were integral to the survival of those American settlers. But decades of overharvesting, pollution, and disease reduced the wild-oyster population to just 1 percent听of its historic numbers over the last century. It鈥檚 a story that鈥檚 been repeated all over the world, as 85 percent听of all shellfish populations have been decimated.
鈥淲atermen just pulled too many oysters out of the water,鈥 Ludford says. 鈥淧ollution and disease didn鈥檛 help, but the biggest problem was overharvesting. They hacked away the reefs.鈥
It鈥檚 a story that鈥檚 been repeated all over the world, as 85 percent听of all shellfish populations have been decimated.
But oysters are on the rise again in the bay through a mix of artificial-reef restoration projects听and innovative farming techniques, like those on display at Pleasure House Oysters, that have farmers growing the bivalves in metal cages just below the surface. The rate of oyster farming in Maryland鈥檚 section听of the Chesapeake Bay since 2012, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. And that鈥檚 a good thing, because oysters are like environmental scrubbers:听each one听can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, removing nitrogen and phosphorous from the water, the two biggest pollutants in the bay.
鈥淥ysters are these amazing animals that can do all kinds of cool stuff,鈥 says Mark Bryer, Chesapeake Bay program director for the听. 鈥淭he filtration benefits of oysters are off the charts.鈥
The reefs that oysters establish as they grow become habitat that attracts multiple other species of shellfish and fish, all of which help contribute to a healthy ecosystem听and make oysters a keystone species for estuaries like the Chesapeake. Because of the oyster鈥檚 importance, the Nature Conservancy听has several ongoing large-scale oyster-reef restoration projects in the bay, with a goal of听restoring听wild reefs in ten of its key tributaries by 2025.
The Nature Conservancy has already restored 693 acres of reefs in the Chesapeake Bay, mostly in Maryland, and听now it鈥檚 shifting focus to the Virginia side of the water. The goal is to restore 428 acres of oyster reefs in the Piankatank River听by 2025, which would make it the largest oyster-restoration project in the world. It鈥檚 unlikely that wild-oyster populations will ever reach their historical levels again (Maryland鈥檚 Department of Natural Resources听 in its听part of the bay declined by more than half in the last 20 years, from 600 million market-size oysters in 1999 to 300 million in 2018), but the hope is to create enough wild-oyster reefs in the bay that the population becomes self-sustaining.
While the Nature Conservancy has been restoring wild reefs, it has听also been studying how commercial oyster farms affect the bay鈥檚 water quality. It听recently听released a new study听showing that these aquaculture projects hold promise; a five-acre aquaculture operation offers the filtering equivalent of听an acre of wild-oyster reefs.
鈥淲hat we learned is that these farms are a net positive to the system,鈥澨齭ays Andy Lacatell, Virginia鈥檚 Chesapeake Bay program director for the Nature Conservancy, who spearheaded the study on aquaculture. 鈥淭he oysters they鈥檙e growing are making a contribution to cleaning the bay. Aquaculture isn鈥檛 a silver bullet, but it鈥檚 part of the solution. There鈥檚 a benefit to having those oysters in the water.鈥
The goal is to restore 428 acres of oyster reefs in the听Piankatank听River by 2025, which would make it the largest oyster-restoration project in the world.
Meanwhile, these industrial operations are coexisting in the bay alongside large-scale oyster-reef restoration projects. The best example is in Maryland鈥檚 Harris Creek, where 350 acres of wild reefs have been restored in recent years, but an oyster-advisory commission has also set aside a network of leasable acres specifically for aquaculture, leaving a buffer between the farmable leases and the artificial reefs, which cannot be harvested.
鈥淐hesapeake Bay is ground zero for oyster restoration,鈥 Bryer says. 鈥淲e have the largest native-oyster restoration project on the planet, and the aquaculture industry has quintupled in the last five years. People are using the bay as a model to jump-start restoration and aquaculture projects in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Gulf Coast.鈥
It鈥檚 not all roses, though. While wild-oyster reef restorations and aquaculture farms can coexist, 听related to both听in the Chesapeake Bay. Wealthy landowners听don鈥檛 want to see the commercial cages from their听backyards. And oyster farming also limits recreation and boating.
On the West Coast, the National Audubon Society 听California鈥檚 Humboldt Bay Harbor District because of a spike in oyster-farming leases that could negatively impact eelgrass,听which might ultimately harm migratory birds and fish populations. Fish rely on eelgrass as habitat, while birds look to it as a food source. The Audubon Society is concerned that there are no checks and balances in place to regulate the immense growth in aquaculture in the Humboldt Bay, where the state doesn鈥檛 oversee new aquaculture leases.
鈥淚t鈥檚 true that the oyster industry has helped clean up the water in certain estuaries, but there are other environmental issues of using natural areas for industrial use,鈥 says Anna Weinstein, the Audubon Society鈥檚 marine program director. 鈥淎udubon supports well-sited leases, but there needs to be balance, and there needs to be protections for our seagrasses, which nurture our fishes, crabs, and birds.鈥
Lacatell agrees. 鈥淢ore than 50 percent of the world鈥檚 seafood comes from aquaculture now. In some places, that鈥檚 a good thing, in some places, it鈥檚 not a good thing. If the oysters are grown responsibly, eat them. Increase the demand, increase the value of an oyster. This is a rare food product that is doing a really good thing for the environment.鈥