Why I love oysters

I admit it. I hate the taste of oysters. I can barely gag one down, and watch speechless as Deborah throws them back with different sauces and a glass of champagne. Ick! (Well, not the champagne part, of course.)

But I do LOVE oysters, even if I earn my Marylander cred by eating crabs instead. Really, truly love them, so much so that I might make a second career someday out of growing and replanting them in reef sanctuaries throughout the tributaries along the Bay.

Oysters are miracle workers - the key to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. One oyster can pump nearly fifty gallons of water a day, filtering out microorganisms and improving water clarity through algae reduction. Oyster reefs create a rich habitat for fish, crabs, and other important sea life. In fact, our historically small oyster population both represents and threatens further damage to the health of our Bay. We must bring these precious resources back from the brink.

Over the past few months, I've been so honored to learn from and join forces with some amazing local non-profit organizations that are committed to this work. From the Southern Maryland Oyster Cultivation Society (SMOCS) working to restore the oyster population in reef sanctuaries along various creeks near Solomons Island to the Chesapeake Bay Savers concentrating on Spa Creek and the Severn River near Annapolis, I’m getting an up close and personal view of the work we need to continue doing to bring our Bay back to life.

Organizations like these and their founders have gotten me energized about working in the General Assembly to find innovative ways to revitalize the oyster population in the Bay. These groups are model examples of successful public-private partnerships at work. Deborah and I will continue to serve as volunteer oyster planters and hope you’ll consider joining us on a future mission.

I’m proud of the work the Maryland General Assembly has done, with the support and leadership of the O’Malley Administration, to expand state sponsored oyster restoration programs for the Bay. But we have much more work to do in the months and years ahead if we are to bring back the Bay and its oysters. I'll play my part - first, in the General Assembly, and second, by eating crabs instead.