The 450-acre Man O War shoal, located off Baltimore County’s waterfront, is the last relic
oyster reef in the Upper Chesapeake Bay. This shoal includes approximately 100 million bushels of buried oyster shell, which occurs in layers below the surface, along with mud, sand, shells and cobble.
From 1960 to 2006, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources allowed for as many as 200 million bushels of buried oyster shell to be dredged from the upper Chesapeake Bay and barged to the southern reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Those operations significantly depleted upper Chesapeake Bay shell deposits. Now, there is a possibility that the Board of Public Works may approve plans to cut into Man O War Shoal and remove oyster shells, weakening the core of the shoal.
I am cosponsoring with Councilman Todd Crandell a resolution urging the Maryland General Assembly to prohibit dredging in this critical region of the Upper Chesapeake Bay. There are alternative ways to replenish our oyster population in other parts of the state.
The Chesapeake Bay is Maryland’s greatest natural resource. It is time to permanently protect the Man O War, an important part of that resource.