Efforts to restore the historic (Yates) oyster bars in the Corsica continue in October with spat on shell being deposited in the river. Restoring oyster beds was one of the key dozen or so initiatives that were part of Watershed Restoration Action Program. Initially several barges of spat on shell were brought into the Possum Point bar near Ship Point and another nearby. Each September, CRC distributed the shells to 25 to 30 recruited growers as part of the Marylanders Grow Oysters program that were then picked up the following May and deposited on the bar off of Ship’s Point by the Corsica River Sailing Center. More recently, ShoreRivers has supported the program.
CRC volunteers are still participating although interest in the MGO program has diminished. This year’s distribution was delayed until the end of October because of spat shortages from Horn Point Laboratory.
If you would like to participate, either by hanging an oyster cage off your dock or planting spat, email CRC at corsicariverconservancy@gmail.org or contact ShoreRivers at www.shorerivers.org. For more information about the MGO program, see https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/MGO/index.aspx