Selling surplus oysters for Bay restoration

The SOAR program buys aquaculture oysters to help both farmers and the Bay. 

As oyster populations slowly recover, the SOAR program (Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration) purchases oysters from local farmers and plants them on oyster sanctuaries in the Chesapeake Bay. Created by The Nature Conservancy, in collaboration with Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), SOAR arose during the COVID-19 pandemic to help support oyster farmers who were unable to sell to restaurants due to public health restrictions. Today it continues to purchase oysters that have grown too large for use as seafood, which the Oyster Recovery Partnership plants on restored reefs in Maryland and Virginia.

Watch as Jerry Sturmer, owner and founder of the Choptank Terrapin Oyster Co., and Olivia Caretti, coastal restoration program manager with ORP, discuss the SOAR program and how their efforts benefit local farmers and the Chesapeake Bay.

Video Credits

Produced by

Charlie Nick

Special thanks to

Jerry Sturmer and Olivia Caretti