Most of the time, a massive oyster reef along Pleasure House Creek in Virginia Beach is hidden below the water. But at low tide, long lines of shells come into view.
Brent James, oyster restoration coordinator with the nonprofit Lynnhaven River Now, looked out at the expanse while the creek sparkled in the afternoon sun.
“This was our biggest reef project ever, and most successful ever. I mean, tens of millions of oysters growing on it,” he said. “What we don't want to see is someone come in and just start harvesting all these.”
Nonprofits and government agencies have worked for years to install sanctuary reefs like this around the Chesapeake Bay to boost the wild oyster population.
But a small clause in a proposed federal budget threatens long-term protection and funding for such reefs. The change is buried in a massive spending package passed by a House of Representatives appropriations committee:
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for oyster restoration, recovery, reef construction, habitat enhancement, or other related oyster activities in the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries unless oysters planted using such funds are made eligible for managed commercial harvest by licensed watermen after a period of three years from the date of planting.”
The budget still has to clear the full House and reconcile with a Senate version, which does not contain the language.
James said the proposal would undercut the significant investment the federal government has spent to build these projects. A sizable sanctuary reef is expensive, requiring the transport and installation of thousands of bushels of oyster shells, he said.
“If we spend the millions of dollars to make those sanctuary reefs, and then they're just harvested three years later, they can strip those clean very quickly. They could just wipe out everything that's been done.”
Projects during the past decade have added nearly 2,300 acres of oyster habitat across 10 major bay tributaries in Maryland and Virginia, including the Lynnhaven River.
The Pleasure House reef is one of about 20 that Lynnhaven River Now has planted, totaling 153 acres, most funded by federal dollars. That’s only about 12% of the river’s historic oyster levels before English colonists arrived.
James said the growth of oysters has dovetailed with improvements in water quality. Earlier this year, the river reached a milestone, with more than half of the water now clean enough for shellfish harvesting.
A single oyster can famously filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, helping reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.
That’s why officials have invested in oysters so heavily.
The Chesapeake Bay Program is a massive collaboration of states, nonprofits and federal agencies. Late last year, the group approved a plan guiding the restoration over the next 15 years.
It includes a goal to add at least 2,000 acres of oyster habitat to the bay by 2040.
Karen Forget, executive director of Lynnhaven River Now, said opening reefs to harvest would undermine the nonprofit’s engagement work.
“When we're building sanctuary areas, we have told the community these are areas that will never be harvested. These are areas that are there to ensure that we always have a healthy, thriving native oyster population in the river,” she said. “So if that changes, I feel like that's just a huge breach of trust that we have with the community.”
She noted local shellfish harvesters have also benefited from wild oysters that propagate outward and clean the water.
“I think our commercial growers are very aware of the fact that the conservation efforts and the sanctuary reef efforts are the reason why they can have a business in the Lynnhaven.”
