Maryland and Virginia Oyster Restoration Interagency Teams

Upcoming Meetings

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Scope and Purpose

The Maryland and Virginia Oyster Restoration Interagency Teams are responsible for identifying tributaries for large-scale oyster restoration and developing Oyster Restoration Tributary Plans for each waterway, in consultation with partners and scientists. Workgroup members include representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Baltimore and Norfolk districts, the Oyster Recovery Partnership, state agencies (including the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission), local organizations and consulting scientists. These teams are focused on planning restoration and monitoring in the tributaries that have been selected so far for tributary restoration: Harris Creek, Tred Avon, Little Choptank, and St. Marys River in Maryland; Lafayette, Lynnhaven, Piankantank, Great Wicomico, and Lower York River in Virginia.

Publications

2024 Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration Update

Published on April 4, 2025 in Report

The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which guides the work of the Chesapeake Bay Program, calls for state and federal partners to “restore native oyster habitat and populations in 10 Bay tributaries by 2025, and ensure their protection." This report contains detailed summaries of the Bay-wide, Maryland-specific and Virginia-specific progress made toward this outcome in 2024.

 

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2022 and 2023 Maryland Oyster Reef Monitoring Report

This report is an analysis of data from the “10 Tributaries” Sanctuary Oyster Restoration Initiative in Maryland. The data discussed in this report were collected in fall 2022 and fall 2023. Trends observed in previous monitoring years generally continued in 2022 and 2023, with a large majority of restored reefs meeting the four Oyster Metrics success criteria measured (oyster density, oyster biomass, multiple year classes and shell budget).


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Watershed Agreement

Sustainable Fisheries Goal

Members
Stephanie Westby (Chair), NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Address:
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
410 Severn Avenue, Suite 107A
Annapolis, Maryland 21403

Email:  stephanie.westby@noaa.gov
Andrew Larkin (Chair), NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Address:
1 Waterside Drive
Norfolk, Virginia 23510

Email:  Andrew.W.Larkin@noaa.gov
Phone:  (757) 627-3823
Christina Garvey (Staffer), Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Address:


Email:  christina.garvey@noaa.gov
Andrew Button, Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Address:


Email:  andrew.button@mrc.virginia.gov
Andrew Larkin, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Address:
1 Waterside Drive
Norfolk, Virginia 23510

Email:  Andrew.W.Larkin@noaa.gov
Phone:  (757) 627-3823
Andy Lacatell, The Nature Conservancy
Address:
530 E Main St
#800
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Email:  alacatell@tnc.org
Phone:  (804) 644-5800
Angela Sowers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Baltimore District
Address:
10 S Howard Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Email:  angela.sowers@usace.army.mil
Phone:  (410) 952-7440
Brent Hunsinger
Address:


Email:  brent.hunsinger@riverfriends.org
Brent James
Address:


Email:  brent@lrnow.org
Chris Ludford
Address:


Email:  ludfordbros@gmail.com
Chris Moore, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Address:
3663 Marlin Bay Drive
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454

Email:  cmoore@cbf.org
Phone:  (757) 622-1964
David Bruce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Address:


Email:  david.bruce@noaa.gov
David O'Brien, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Address:
Gloucester Point (VA) Field Office
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  David.L.O'Brien@noaa.gov
David Schulte, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:


Email:  David.M.Schulte@usace.army.mil
Gabrielle Saluta, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:


Email:  gsaluta@vims.edu
Heather Lockwood, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:


Email:  Heather.Lockwood@usace.army.mil
Jackie Shannon, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Address:


Email:  jshannon@cbf.org
Jay Lazar, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Address:
N/A
N/A, Maryland N/A

Email:  jay.lazar@noaa.gov
Jennica Moffat, Oyster Recovery Partnership
Address:


Email:  jmoffat@oysterrecovery.org
Jodi Baxter, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:


Email:  jodi.baxter@maryland.gov
Joe Rieger, Elizabeth River Project
Address:


Email:  jrieger@elizabethriver.org
Joseph Bieberich, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:


Email:  joseph.c.bieberich@usace.army.mil
Julie Luecke, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Address:


Email:  jluecke@cbf.org
Kerry Kennedy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:


Email:  kerry.m.kennedy@usace.army.mil
Kimberly Koelsch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:


Email:  Kimberly.C.Koelsch@usace.army.mil
Laura Clarke
Address:


Email:  lclarke@pewtrusts.org
Laurinda Serafin, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:


Email:  laurinda.serafin@maryland.gov
Lisa Kellogg, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:


Email:  lkellogg@vims.edu
Mark Luckenbach, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:


Email:  luck@vims.edu
Megan Wood, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Address:
Virginia

Email:  megan.a.wood@usace.army.mil
Olivia Caretti, Oyster Recovery Partnership
Address:


Email:  ocaretti@oysterrecovery.org
Rachael Peabody, Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Address:
380 Fenwick Rd
Hampton, Virginia 23651

Email:  rachael.peabody@mrc.virginia.gov
Phone:  (757) 247-2269
Rom Lipcius, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 1348
Andrews Hall 427
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  rom@vims.edu
Phone:  (804) 684-7330
Russell Burke, Christopher Newport University
Address:


Email:  russell.burke@cnu.edu
Ryan Westpfahl, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Address:


Email:  rwestpfahl@cbf.org
Sarah Greenberg, Oyster Recovery Partnership
Address:


Email:  sgreenberg@oysterrecovery.org
Tarig Omer, City of Virginia Beach (VA)
Address:


Email:  tomer@vbgov.com
Thomas Olexa, U.S. Department of the Navy
Address:


Email:  thomas.olexa@navy.mil
Todd Janeski, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Address:
Central Office - Zincke Bldg
203 Governor St
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Email:  Todd.Janeski@dcr.virginia.gov
Phone:  (804) 371-8984
Zachary Greenberg, Pew Charitable Trusts
Address:


Email:  zgreenberg@pewtrusts.org
Ward Slacum, Jr., Jr.
Address:
1805 A Virginia Street
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  wslacum@oysterrecovery.org
Phone:  (443) 433-3438