In a hard winter, Maryland extends oyster season two weeks

Maryland is extending its commercial oyster season by two weeks to help watermen make up lost harvesting days during a hard freeze in Chesapeake Bay in January and February.

Ice coverage exceeded 90% on many bay waters. In response the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is extending the oyster season to April 14, beyond the originally scheduled end March 31. Under the extension, all current gear restrictions and bushel limits will remain in effect. Handscraping for oysters in hand tong areas is not permitted under the extension.

“Maryland’s watermen have faced a difficult oyster season after recent declines in market demand and ice on waterways blocked access to traditional harvest areas,” DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said in announcing the decision Feb. 19.

“This oyster season extension will give them additional opportunities to boost their livelihoods and the local communities where they live,” said Kurtz. “DNR made this decision after extensive conversations with industry stakeholders and scientists.”

Because coordinated oyster restoration and management efforts have boosted the overall oyster population, “we are confident that extending the season will not affect the ongoing resurgence of oysters in the Bay and local rivers,” said Kurtz.

Wide swaths of Chesapeake Bay were covered by ice Feb. 10. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources extended the oyster season two weeks to make up for lost harvesting days in January and February. National Ice Center graphic.

DMR officials say Maryland oyster populations “are in the midst of a multi-year increase and are at their highest levels in more than two decades. The 2025 Maryland oyster stock assessment found that adult oyster populations in state waters had more than tripled to 7.6 billion oysters since a low of 2.4 billion oysters in 2005.”

The fall oyster spat survey showed solid reproduction in 2024 after a record year in 2023 when “oyster spat was documented at levels not seen in a generation in some places,” according to the agency. “In 2023, scientists recorded widespread spat distribution throughout the Bay and rivers as well as approximately 87 spat per bushel - nearly four times the median of 23.6 spat per bushel.”

The extension will also support watermen during a difficult market for oysters. Despite wide availability of oysters in harvest areas, oyster sellers have not been buying as many oysters, according to reports from watermen. Many watermen have said oyster buyers during the previous two years have only been buying oysters from harvesters as little as one day per week, and sometimes less.

The new rule for the extension is effective Feb. 23, extending and the commercial oyster season for all gear types through April 14. The change does not affect the recreational oyster season that ends March 31.