Help Restore Oyster Habitat in the Herring Bay Sanctuary
The Advocates for Herring Bay appreciate your interest and support for our “Happy Oysters, Healthy Bay” campaign. Your donations—big or small—will make a difference!
Why is oyster restoration important?
Investing in this project will yield environmental benefits for Herring Bay for years to come. Being located on a historical oyster reef in a sanctuary ensures that the oysters planted today will not be disturbed in the future because those oyster beds are permanently closed to harvesting. As noted in the FAQ about the benefits of restoration, those protections allow the reefs to develop three-dimensional structures that provide the food and shelter needed by hundreds of aquatic species—including crabs and fish. Each adult oyster also filters more than 10 gallons of water per day, reducing major pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorus.
Those benefits, especially reductions in pollution, will be felt beyond the border of the Herring Bay. Because it is a sub-bay of the Chesapeake, Herring Bay’s water constantly intermingles with the waters of the open Bay. Thus, the waters cleansed by oysters’ filtration—and any waters carrying new larvae—will help not only Herring Bay but the broader Bay watershed.
Why are community-sponsored projects important?
Local oyster restoration projects fill a special niche. They function like entrepreneurial startups for oysters in sanctuaries that—to date—have received less attention from big investors—in this case, federal and state governments. Acting together, communities can jump-start the growth of oyster populations in overlooked areas, accelerating the benefits of clean water and rich habitat throughout the Chesapeake Bay.
How much will the Happy Oysters, Healthy Bay project cost?
Oyster restoration is expensive. As you can see the FAQ on “What it takes to build a reef,” the process involves growing oyster larvae at a hatchery, nurturing them on shells, and transporting and planting them on underwater reefs. Restoring AHB’s 3-acre site ultimately will require planting a total of about 15 to 18 million juvenile oysters over the next several years. To launch the project, AHB is hoping to make an initial downpayment of up to 10 million juvenile oysters over the next two years (2024-2025). Assuming an average cost of about $4,000 per million oysters, the cost of buying and deploying the first 10 million oysters could be about $40,000.
How many oysters will our donations support?
Donations of any amount will help. Here is what your contribution can buy:
$50 buys 12,500 juvenile oysters
$100 buys 25,000
$250 buys 62,500
$500 buys 125,000
$1,000 buys roughly a quarter-million juvenile oysters
How can I make a donation?
Monetary donations can be made by check payable to the Advocates for Herring Bay or by using the online donation button on this website. If possible, checks are preferred to avoid processing fees. Checks should be made payable to AHB-Oysters and can be delivered at upcoming fundraising events or sent by mail to P.O Box 496, North Beach, Maryland. 20714. If you would prefer to use Zelle—a banking service—contact us at herringbay@gmail.com to make arrangements.
Please note that, as of this posting, most donations are NOT tax-deductible. If you are a business for which tax deductibility is necessary, please contact us at herringbay@gmail.com.
Are there other ways I can help?
Yes! AHB is a network of volunteers who collaborate with the community to protect and enhance the ecological health of the Herring Bay watershed. While restoring oysters is mostly a matter of money, there are opportunities from time to time to help with tasks related to planning and hosting fundraisers, planting spat-on-shell, and monitoring reefs. Please contact us at herringbay@gmail.com if you are interested.