The St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) reflecting the commitment of both organizations to collaboratively promote and enhance the health of local ecosystems, including the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, the Chesapeake Bay and their respective tributaries. Oyster revitalization provides broad ecological benefits, but it requires considerable funding and resources. To help expedite progress, MetCom has voluntarily agreed to provide supplemental financial support in the form of annual grants to the PRFC for oyster revitalization projects within the tidal Potomac River. The grant funds will be used to purchase and plant wild oyster seed, spat-on-shell (SOS), and oyster shells in designated Special Management Areas (SMAs) and other suitable sites within the PRFC jurisdiction to increase biomass and suitable substrate for reproduction events. Scaled to a funding level of $10,000 per year, it is anticipated that the PRFC could plant over 700 bushels of wild oyster seed or 350,000 seed oysters equating to an estimated 2.6 million eyed larvae and up to 2 acres of oyster ground. The typical oyster site-specific project can cost between $50,000-$100,000. The primary goal is to help enhance the ecological health of […]
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