Lover’s Point reef site in Breton Bay.
BRETON BAY, Md. – If you love Breton Bay and want to see it thrive, please join the oyster planting party hosted by your local watershed associations on Sept. 12 at Abell’s Wharf at 10 a.m. Bring the family, grab life jackets, and join our mission to plant one million baby oysters on our thriving sanctuary reef.
Since 2017, the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association and Friends of St. Clement’s Bay have been working to rebuild a healthy oyster population in Breton Bay. As a keystone species, oysters filter the water, improve conditions for important vegetation, and provide habitat for animals like rockfish and blue crabs.
To date, we’ve planted over 4.5 million oysters with the help of community volunteers and our partners at Bell Marine Services, Shore Thing Shellfish, LLC, ECOBAY Landscape & Design, and the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization. We will continue these efforts until the reef can sustain itself.
The hard work is already paying off. Last fall, two surveys using different methodologies both showed the reef is healthy and growing. In April, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) identified three more suitable sites within the sanctuary area for reef expansion. That’s another 19.5 acres of prime river bottom available to the Bay’s oyster population.
But those oysters can’t do it alone. Our efforts help to jumpstart the restoration of a population that remains at less than 1 percent of what it was one hundred years ago, when oysters covered 48 percent of the Breton Bay bottom, kept the water clear, and supported all manner of plants and animals. Even 50 years ago, many locals remember the plentiful seagrasses, blue crabs, and fish of their youth.
Please help us in this important work as we unload 200 bushels of baby oysters attached to oyster shells (spat-on-shell) from trailers, load them onto work vessels, and transport the oysters by boat to their new home off Lover’s Point in Breton Bay.
Event Details:
- What: One Million Oysters for Breton Bay
- When: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, at 10 a.m. (Rain Date: Sunday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m.)
- Where: Abell’s Wharf, 21620 Abell’s Wharf Road, Leonardtown, Maryland
- Who: Volunteers of all ages. Families are encouraged to attend. Please bring a life jacket if you have one.
To register, please visit https://forms.gle/JKC4dss437emjSRMA or email the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association