Oyster Restoration

Our team has many years of experience in oyster restoration projects.

Did you know that one adult oyster filters up to 50 gallons per day. The filtering process removes bacteria, nutrients and suspended solids from the water.

Oyster Gardening

NRPA members advise homeowners on the process. Please contact the NRPA if interested in establishing an oyster garden at your site.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission strongly encourages gardening and farming of oysters and clams. These shellfish provide important economic and environmental benefits. In fact, a single adult oyster can purge 50 gallons of water a day! And shellfish gardening and farming reduce harvest pressure on wild stocks, while increasing the overall number of shellfish that help clean the water and serve as habitat for fish and crabs.

Oyster gardening under private piers and along the shoreline of privately owned waterfront property is becoming increasingly popular among environmentally concerned citizens.

In most cases, permits and/or licenses are necessary to set up shellfish gardens or farms. This is to help us ensure fair use of the public water bottoms, reduce potential user conflicts, head off navigation issues, limit the chance contaminated shellfish are mistakenly taken from condemned waterways, and preserve underwater grasses that shelter juvenile fish and crabs from predators.

Oyster Reef Sanctuaries

NRPA in partnership with two homeowners and Volvo Penta Testing Facility (Chuckatuck Creek) established three oyster reefs.  

Oyster Restoration Research

Fall 2020 NRPA Oyster Restoration Team will be co-lead with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Oyster Team in an innovative oyster restoration research project.