posted on: April 11, 2019

Collecting Your Own Oysters

Type: Tidal
Region: Eastern
Location: lower Choptank River

On March 28 with only a couple days of the 2018/2019 oyster season left open, I saw a strong north wind blowing and took a chance that there would be a blow out tide occurring on the low tide cycle. True to prediction there was on the lower Choptank River and I decided to wade out and see if I could find some large oysters in the fairly shallow and clear waters. During the spring tides in February one can often find a five gallon bucket of oysters fairly easily in a pair of knee boots but this time of the year the low tide cycle is not as low so waders were in order. Long gloves that are commonly used for muskrat trapping are a real asset to hold back the numbing cold water. Pick up oysters as they are often called can be found growing singly in sand or attached to a small rock or other objects. If you are lucky enough to find a pair of nippers which are oyster tongs with only a few teeth and 8� to 10� shafts, you can drift along in a boat and collect oysters as you spot them in the clear water.

My quest this day was to collect a � bushel of large oysters to be put up in my freezer to be used later as fried oysters. It did not take too long and I had what I needed. A five gallon bucket of large oysters is about all anyone would want to haul around so it is a good point to stop. Also they must be opened from the hinge which will wear one out, so a � bushel or less is plenty for one endeavor.

Collecting your own oysters is one of the fun and rewarding things you can do in Maryland. Recreational oyster season is open October 1 through March 31 - the season is currently closed, but will re-open on October 1, 2019. You must be a resident of Maryland to harvest oysters recreationally, you do not need a license, you cannot collect more than one bushel per day, and the oysters cannot be sold. Oyster rakes, tongs or scuba diving as well as just picking them up at low tide are the only legal ways to collect them but some areas are restricted to collection methods, and others are closed for public health reasons (the oysters are unsafe to eat in some areas). Recreational oystering is limited to Monday thru Friday from sunrise to 3 pm and Saturday from sunrise to noon, no recreational oyster collecting on Sundays. The minimum size for keeping an oyster is 3 inches measured in a straight line from the hinge along the longest part of the shell.

The following links can provide information and helpful guidance to areas you can safely and legally collect you own oysters next year when the 2019-2020 oyster season opens once again. Also included here is the MDE link on closure areas where ooysters are unsafe to eat: mde.maryland.gov/programs/Marylander/fishandshellfish/Pages/shellfishmaps.aspx.