New Hampshire hears a Great Bay oyster-restoration closure tonight

New Hampshire Fish and Game is taking comment tonight on a shellfish closure meant to protect new oyster reef work in Great Bay. An Aug. 31, 2026 release from Durham says the hearing is at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at the Urban Forestry Center, 45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth. The Nature Conservancy and the University of New Hampshire are each scheduled to present. The department is working with both on the restoration.

The release’s site description is a 5-acre area near Woodman Point and a 15-acre area near Nannie Island, which the same release calls a 20-acre closure. The opening sentence of that release instead says a 2-acre area. Only those restoration sites are proposed for closure. The existing Nannie Island oyster reef and the Woodman Point oyster reef would stay open to recreational oyster harvesters. The closure would run up to five years. State law RSA 211:63-b lets the executive director close clam, oyster, and other bivalve areas for restoration if the closure will not unduly interfere with existing or anticipated commercial or recreational use, and it caps that kind of closure at five years.

Written comments go to comments@wildlife.nh.gov through Oct. 12, 2026. The contacts on the release are Renee Zobel and Robert Atwood, both at (603) 868-1095.

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

Source: NH Fish and Game — Hearing on closure of oyster reef restoration site, Oct. 5 (Aug. 31, 2026).