It has been a bumper crop year for harvesting Chesapeake oysters as their populations continue to recover from overfishing.
Virginia is looking to have another banner year, after harvesting 700,000 bushels of oysters in the 2022-2023 season – its highest yield in 35 years. Meanwhile, Maryland had their second record-high year for wild oysters.
These numbers are a sign that the oyster populations are recovering from the severe overfishing, habitat loss, and disease they faced in the 80s.
The alien-looking mollusks are critical to filtering out silt and pollution in the bay, as well as creating habitats that support all kinds of sea life.
Mayland and Virginia are both pushing hard to continue this upward trend through oyster gardening. Maryland set a new record by planting 1.7 billion native oysters in 2023 alone.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation also has a Save Oyster Shell recycling program where restaurants and individuals can donate oyster shells to be used in local reefs and restoration projects.
Oysters ready to eat. (Alexander Spatari/Getty Images)
Oyster sales are also picking back up after grinding to a halt during the pandemic, when sales dropped by over 95%. Lucky for us, this translates to a thriving D.C. oyster bar scene. Here are a few favorites:
Choose between several different types of local oysters here, with varying levels of brininess.
A D.C. institution, Hank’s even partners with a local farm to grow its own "proprietary" Chesapeake oysters called the “salty wolfe.”
This casual seafood joint serves up Chesapeake oysters for just $1 each during happy hour.
