$10 million NOAA project lays stone for 70 acres of oyster reef in Hooper Strait

Construction is under way on more than 70 acres of new oyster reef in the Hooper Strait Oyster Sanctuary, a narrow channel between two islands in Maryland’s part of the Chesapeake Bay. NOAA Fisheries described the project on Oct. 19. NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation gave the Maryland Department of Natural Resources $10 million for the work in 2024, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Community Based Restoration Program. Stephanie Westby, NOAA’s Chesapeake oyster restoration coordinator, said it is the most money NOAA has put toward a reef-base construction project.

Murtech, a veteran-owned marine contractor from Maryland, is placing about 1,669 tons of stone per acre to build a reef base about 12 inches high. The crane barge is tracked by GPS, and hydrographic surveys check the reef’s height and shape as it goes down. If the schedule holds, the stone will be in by spring 2027, oyster larvae could start settling on it that year, and those oysters could be spawning by 2028. The site is close to reefs that are already working, so plenty of larvae drift through looking for hard bottom to settle on. Because the sanctuary is closed to harvest, oysters there can grow larger.

The project starts the next phase of Bay oyster work. The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goal of restoring 10 tributaries ended in 2025 with 1,900 acres of restored reef. NOAA says about 99% of monitored reefs meet the minimum success criteria. The Chesapeake Bay Program now aims to restore or conserve at least 2,000 more acres by 2040. Maryland plans 400 acres in Hooper Strait and about 700 more in the Herring Bay and Nanticoke River sanctuaries as funding becomes available.

Photo: Molly Feltner / NOAA (a crane drops stone in Hooper Strait Oyster Sanctuary to build the new reef base).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NOAA Fisheries — NOAA-Funded Project to Build 70 Acres of Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Habitat (Oct. 19, 2026).