Wye River Neighbors Unite to Fund Second Oyster Restoration Project

QUEENSTOWN — On June 6, the Wye River Oyster Program, a community-driven effort to replenish the oyster population in the Wye River, will take another step toward that goal by planting 15 to 20 million spat on shell in the river’s designated oyster sanctuary. Another planting of the same amount is planned for later this summer.

This will be the second portion of oyster spat planted by the predominantly privately funded group, financially supported by neighbors living on or near the Wye River.

A small but mighty group of citizens, friends and neighbors dedicated to the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay, the first such oyster seeding of 21 million spat on shell organized and funded by the Wye River Oyster Program volunteers occurred in summer of last year.

As a youngster, Bruce Abel, a founding member of the Wye River Oyster Program, enjoyed fishing, crabbing and oystering while exploring the shores of “a much cleaner, clearer body of water than today’s Wye River.” He recalled a plentiful harvest of seafood from yesteryear’s Wye River which he attributes to “the abundance of water-cleansing oysters in the river habitat, an abundance that no longer exists.” Those memories compelled Abel, joined by neighbors Steve Burleson and Ann Gray, to form the Wye River Oyster Program, dedicated to restoring the oyster population of the Wye River.

“What makes this effort unique is that neighbors living along the Wye River and in the nearby community have provided most of the funds for this effort.”— Steve Burleson

While the Wye River Oyster Program has received some monetary support from Queen Anne’s County, with applications pending for additional sources of government funding, Burleson noted that “this is a neighbor-to-neighbor community driven and funded effort organized and led by private citizens committed to using the power of oysters to restore the abundance of the Wye River.”

Gray remarked that she supports the effort because “oysters are natural water filtering machines that can significantly improve the water quality of the Wye River by removing sediments, algae, nutrients and pollutants. That’s a goal all of us can get behind.”

The Wye River Oyster Program Fund is a component fund of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation.

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