Planting oysters at Traces Hollow

Great news for our oyster restoration program!

Our oysters that live on four restoration reefs in the Severn River are enjoying good water quality (WQ) conditions in the area between the Rt. 50 and USNA Bridges.

A special report produced by SRA Field Investigator Emi McGeady focuses particularly on the Traces Hollow reef that is designated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources as the home for oysters grown by volunteers participating in the Marylanders Grow Oysters (MGO) program.

Oxygen Levels At Traces Hollow Reef In 2020

And, water quality at a historic oyster bar near Severna Park is in similar condition, free of threats from low-oxygen conditions known as dead zones.

This could bode well for future efforts to expand the popular MGO program.

Since 2009, the Severn River Association (SRA) has coordinated more than 400 volunteers who grow baby oysters on their piers through the winter and then plant their year-old oysters every June on the Trace Hollow Reef.

In 2019 through 2020, SRA tracked conditions at Traces Hollow and other oyster restoration reefs as part of a weekly WQ program that visits 44 monitoring stations throughout the Severn River.

SRA’s weekly water quality monitoring program, which tracks oxygen, pH, temperature, salinity and clarity at 44 stations throughout the Severn is made possible by support from the Delaplaine Foundation.

Click here for a copy of Ms. McGeady’s the special report.