Portions of St. Mary’s County waterway reclassified as restricted from shellfish harvesting
PORTIONS OF ST. MARY’S COUNTY WATERWAY RECLASSIFIED AS RESTRICTED FROM SHELLFISH HARVESTING
Reclassifications affect portions of St. Mary’s River; portions of waterways in Dorchester, Somerset counties also reclassified; actions are necessary to protect public health and ensure Maryland remains in compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program
BALTIMORE (May 27, 2022) – The Maryland Department of the Environment has reclassified portions of a waterway in St. Mary’s County to close them to shellfish harvesting.
About 260 acres of waters in the St. Mary’s River will be reclassified from conditionally approved for direct shellfish harvesting to restricted from shellfish harvesting. Another 165 acres of the river’s tributaries, in two separate areas, will be reclassified from approved to conditionally approved.
Also, about 155 acres in the Honga River in Dorchester County will be reclassified from approved to conditionally approved. In areas that are conditionally approved, oysters and clams can be harvested at any time with the exception of any rain event of one inch or more, which requires that an affected area be closed for three days and then re-opened unless another rain event occurred during that time. A restricted classification means that no direct harvest of oysters or clams is permitted. The reclassifications are effective May 30.
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