When John Smith arrived with the first English settlers to the New World in 1607, he noted that oysters were so ubiquitous in the Chesapeake Bay (a name translated from the Native American words for “great shellfish bay”) that they lay “as thick as stones.” As recently as 100 years ago, huge oyster reefs posed navigational hazards to ships in the area. These historic populations, dubbed “Chesapeake Gold” by watermen, not only supported a booming oyster industry in Virginia and Maryland, but served the ecosystem by filtering water in the Bay and providing habitat and food for other creatures.

Today, the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay has been reduced to about one percent of its historic level due to years of over-harvesting, disease and loss of habitat.

The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting three initiatives relating to the presence of oyster in the Chesapeake Bay:

• Construction of projects designed to establish sustainable breeding populations of native oysters in sanctuaries in Virginia;
• Creation of a joint Norfolk District-Baltimore District Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration Master Plan to outline a long-term plan for large-scale native oyster restoration; and
• Preparation of an Oyster EIS that will evaluate ongoing native restoration efforts and the possible introduction of a non-native oyster species.