Eat an Oyster, Save the Bay!

Read on to learn why your participation in Oyster Week VA will make a difference for a cleaner, healthier Chesapeake Bay.

Why are oysters so important?

Oysters are the Chesapeake Bay’s natural water filtration powerhouses. As they grow, they purify vast volumes of water by removing algae and sediment. One adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. This keystone species also provides essential habitat for fish and other Bay creatures, which adds to the overall biodiversity of the Bay. Oysters can also play an important role in protecting Chesapeake Bay shorelines and marshes from erosion, sea-level rise, and intense storms. Beyond their ecological impact, oysters have deep cultural and economic roots in Virginia. They have been a staple of the local diet for centuries, and the oyster industry supports jobs and livelihoods across the region. In this way, supporting Virginia’s oyster populations means supporting our own population.

How does eating oysters help Save the Bay?

Eating local Virginia oysters directly supports the aquaculture industry in the Commonwealth. Aquaculture provides a unique opportunity to support economic growth while providing sustainable seafood and immense water quality benefits. Farmed oysters, like their wild cousins, are also cleaning the water while they grow. Furthermore, they allow a valuable economic enterprise to grow without diminishing the wild oyster population. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation partners with many restaurants and volunteers to recycle oyster shells, which are essential for their wild oyster restoration efforts in the form of living shorelines, citizen oyster gardening, and creating sanctuary reefs. So, when you eat a local oyster, be sure to check that the shells are being recycled–CBF can create 20 new oysters from one recycled oyster.

What is CBF doing to restore oyster populations in the Bay?

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s restoration teams, volunteers and partners work tirelessly to help bring back this vital species throughout the Bay. CBF prepares recycled oyster shell to be used in restoration projects; trains and supports local residents to raise oysters through the oyster gardening program; grows hundreds of thousands of baby oysters each year to be used in restoration projects; and regularly transplants oysters onto sanctuary reefs.

To accelerate large-scale oyster restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, CBF founded the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance (COA) in 2018 with the goal of building a diverse network of partners committed to adding 10 billion oysters to the Bay. Today, the alliance includes more than 110 partners working together to advance oyster restoration across the watershed. Since its founding, COA partners have added 8.1 billion oysters to the Bay and its rivers, demonstrating the power of collaborative conservation. While partner organizations now lead and coordinate the alliance's ongoing work, CBF remains an active supporter and champion of the coalition, helping strengthen partnerships, elevate impact, and advance shared restoration goals throughout the Chesapeake Bay region.