Oyster Farming | University of Maryland Extension

Updated: February 2, 2022

Advanced Lease Management

University of Maryland Extension is assisting aquaculture farmers through education and workshops to demonstrate how to gather data to make more informed decisions about their leases and animals.

Updated: December 16, 2021

Oyster Hatchery

Hatcheries give a detailed understanding of the oyster life cycle and critical components. They can manipulate conditions during certain periods of the oyster life cycle to extend their spawning season well beyond a natural spawning season, and they can augment production by providing highly suitable food and other conditions to maximize efficiency and production.

Updated: August 16, 2021

Oyster Management

Aquaculture has long been used in Maryland to help manipulate public harvest areas, as well as for private production of oysters.

Updated: August 4, 2021

Aquaculture Policy

A brief history and overview of aquaculture industry, political changes, as well as the problems and potential solutions for aquaculture farmers.

Don Webster presenting at ALEI Conference

Updated: August 4, 2021

Meet the Maryland Aquaculture Industry

Maryland offers both traditional Submerged Land Leases as well as Water Column Leases and, with the development of a Regional General Permit with the US Army Corps of Engineers, has been able to make permits easier to obtain. There are also Nursery Permits for those producing seed.

Updated: August 4, 2021

Aquaculture Business - Getting Started

Starting a shellfish aquaculture business requires many important decisions. These include: what type of gear to use; what markets to target with your products; where to find a suitable lease and what type to apply for; how to make out the applications; where to find financing; and many others that can make or break the business.

Updated: February 3, 2021

Remote Setting Systems: Producing Spat on Shell Oyster Seed for Aquaculture

Remote setting is a technique that uses hatchery larvae to produce spat on shell for planting oyster grounds. The method has been successfully employed as a key part in building the Maryland oyster aquaculture industry. This manual covers system components, operation and management and is used for training new growers and for reference by experienced ones to enable them to produce quality seed for planting leases.

Updated: January 22, 2021

Oyster Aquaculture Production Systems

Oyster aquaculture in Maryland is carried out using both traditional bottom leases as well as newer water column leases that utilize containment gear to produce single oysters. This manual describes the different types of production methods that can be used to build an aquaculture business and is designed to help prospective growers choose a method as well as equipment that will result in the production of high quality shellfish.

Updated: January 22, 2021

Nutrient Credit Trading Could Expand Maryland Oyster Aquaculture

Researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) conducted a study to evaluate the potential effect of nutrient credit trading on the growth and profitability of Maryland’s aquaculture industry. Nutrient credit trading is a market approach to lowering the cost of meeting the pollution caps that have been established to restore aquatic habitat in the Chesapeake Bay. Oyster aquaculture producers are eligible to sell credits in this emerging market, which creates the potential for economic and environmental benefits.

Updated: January 11, 2021

COVID-19 Resources

University of Maryland Extension and Maryland Sea Grant have compiled a list to help aquaculture businesses find resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This list is not a complete list of all the resources which may be available to you. We will attempt to update this list as new resources are identified.