Hearing Scheduled on DNR’s Request to Dredge in Striped Bass Spawning Habitat

Annapolis, MD--In an effort to prevent the possible destruction of vital striped bass spawning habitat, Coastal Conservation Association Maryland (CCA MD) is fighting to deny a permit application by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to strip mine fossil oyster shell in the Worton and Plum Point areas. The DNR’s permit application will be the topic of a joint hearing of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment on October 22 at the Kent County Courthouse in Chestertown. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed dredging scheme.

Both of the proposed dredging locations have been classified as essential fish habitat and are located in the designated Upper Bay striped bass spawning reach. The Chesapeake Bay is estimated to provide 65-85 percent of the Atlantic Coast’s striped bass production in any given year. The Upper Bay is the Bay’s most important spawning habitat for striped bass.

“For 40 years, oyster restoration efforts have relied primarily on the dredging of fossil oyster shell,” said Dr. Ken Lewis, past chairman and Fisheries Committee member of CCA MD. “Since the DNR has dredged all the shell from their historical sites, they’re now seeking to strip mine essential fish habitat that is very important to striped bass spawning and risk the multimillion dollar striped bass fishery not just in Maryland, but for much of the Atlantic coast.”

The oyster shell is used as cultch to provide structure for oyster spat to attach to and form an oyster community. The DNR then allows 60 percent of these new oyster bars to be harvested by the commercial oyster industry and sets aside 40 percent for sanctuaries. Studies have shown that in 3-5 years, silting renders the replanted shell useless as cultch.

The state spends approximately $8 million a year on oyster recovery, most of which goes to the dredging of fossil shell. The once economically significant commercial oyster industry now has an estimated annual value of only $2 million. CCA MD requested comment from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service on the DNR’s permit application and found that both agencies share CCA MD’s concerns and recommend the permit be denied.

CCA MD has proposed that DNR seek alternative cultch material such as marine limestone (marl), clam shell, and recycled concrete. While they may be more expensive, these materials do not destroy essential fish habitat and endanger the striped bass fishery, the endangered short nose sturgeon, or hickory or American shad, both of which are now protected by a moratorium in Maryland.

"CCA MD shares the DNR’s goal of oyster restoration, but is concerned because of the ecologically sensitive sites DNR has chosen to strip mine and the potential disruption of recreational fishing during the peak summer fishing season,” says CCA MD Executive Director Robert Glenn.