Gateway to the Bay:

Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Population

Governor’s Summer Internship Program, August 2017

Noah JaquesMarguerite Madden

UMBC ’18Duquesne University ‘18

Maryland Historical TrustGovernor’s Office of Federal Relations

Victor F. MercoglianoBrittany Day

UMBC ’17Duke University ‘19

Governor’s Coordinating OfficesOffice of Minority Health & Health Disparities

Maryland Department of Health

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..3

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………….....4

Introduction………………………………....…………………………………………………….5

Origin of Problem and Problem Definition………….…………………………………………....5

Current Efforts…………………………………………………………………………….………7

Policy Alternative – Outreach and Education Program.………………………………………......9

Policy Alternative – Community Service Partnership.…………….…………………………….12

Policy Alternative – Legislative Action-Stacking Shells Program.………………………….......14

Analysis and Recommendations ………………………………………………………………...18

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….20

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...20

Acknowledgements

This policy analysis would not have been possible without the support of the following individuals:

Governor Larry Hogan

Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford

Honorable Staff and Cabinet Members

Hannah Schmitz -University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Dr. Laura Hussey- University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tiffany Waddell- Office of Federal Relations

Elizabeth Hughes-Maryland Historic Trust

Shalewa Noel-Thomas- Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities

Patrick Lally- Governor’s Coordinating Offices

Chris Judy- Department of Natural Resources

Thomas Price- Oyster Recovery Partnership

Bob Lewis- Scantic River Watershed Association Conservancy

Wayne Witzke- Oyster Recovery Partnership

Dr. Don Merritt- University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science

John Bacon- Town of Chesapeake Beach

Heather North- Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Elle O’Brien- Midshore Riverkeeper

Eric Conrad- Oyster Recovery Partnership

Patrick Beall- Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Kara Skipper- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

Jana Davis- Chesapeake Bay Trust

Kacey Wetzel- Chesapeake Bay Trust

Britt Slattery- Department of Natural Resources

James Dumhart-Piney Point Hatchery

Executive Summary

The Chesapeake Bay's oyster population today has dwindled to just 1 percent of historic levels, as overharvesting, habitat loss and disease have taken their toll. As it stands, oysters currently in the Bay are not creating enough offspring to support full population recovery. There are current efforts such as the Marylanders Grow Oysters program that steer the oyster population back in the right direction.

Solutions

1. Maryland county schools can partner with environmental organizations to immerse schoolchildren in an environmental science curriculum. Broadening partnerships between MGO and Maryland county schools by creating an established competitive grant program for Maryland county schools would complete such an effort.

2. Currently, ORP uses completely volunteer work to build the cages needed for the program, but this aspect of oyster restoration would be bettered if homeless citizens could get job training and perhaps a future job through the growing aquaculture sector in Maryland. By training a group of homeless people as a unit, better skills development for this group could occur.

3. There is currently an Oyster Shell Tax Income Credit Recycling Program that is set to abrogate as of June 30, 2018. This tax credit program has produced tangible successful results with more restaurants claiming the credit and recycling more bushels of shells each year. The renewal of this program would demonstrate Maryland’s dedication towards helping local businesses and environmental salvation.

Introduction

The Chesapeake Bay's oyster population today has dwindled to just 1 percent of historic levels, as overharvesting, habitat loss and disease have taken their toll. Current oyster restoration efforts such as the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program give testimony to the persistence of Marylanders to positively impact their environment. Our policy recommendations such as an environmental outreach grant, a bridge-the-gap program, and a lucrative incentive program look to build upon the success of these current efforts. The Native Americans way of life, which allowed for the environment and people to thrive cohesively, inspired our group to dedicate our efforts towards restoring the Bay. Our policy recommendations would renew that eco-friendly management and allow Maryland to serve as the leading model for environmental salvation.

Origin of Problem and Problem Definition

The Smithsonian, with the help of Torben Rick’s team of scientists, went about establishing what oyster populations were before the European settlement of America compared to today by comparing the oysters in middens, or garbage heaps, used by Native Americans to oysters harvested today.[endnoteRef:1] More specifically, the team tested organic matter in those Native American middens as well as contemporary oyster matter for the decay of radioactive carbon 14, which returns an approximation of the date at which an organism died.[endnoteRef:2] The resulting analysis shows that oyster numbers indeed decreased after European contact of North America, with the population actually decreasing to less than one percent of historic levels.[endnoteRef:3] [1: “How Big Were Oysters in the Chesapeake Before Colonization.”] [2: “How Big Were Oysters in the Chesapeake Before Colonization.”] [3: “Oyster Restoration,” NOAA, accessed July 28, 2017, https://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/oysters/oyster-restoration.]

Locating where things began to go awry for the oyster population is not difficult: overharvesting, habitat loss and disease have all taken their toll on the oyster population. The introduction of dredges—steel basket-like devices dragged across the bottom—and other destructive harvesting techniques ripped out about three-quarters of the bay’s oyster reefs between 1860 and 1920.[endnoteRef:4] As it stands, oysters in the bay are not creating enough offspring to support full population recovery. Oyster harvests tumbled by two-thirds between the 1890s and 1930, but then remained relatively stable at a lower level until the 1950s. Then a pair of diseases hit. MSX and Dermo are both caused by parasites that attack and frequently kill oysters, although they are harmless to people. Compounded by continued overharvesting and pollution, these diseases devastated oyster populations in the Chesapeake. The losses to disease were especially severe in the 1980s, and have tended to be worse in Virginia than in Maryland because both parasites thrive in the saltier waters of the Southern Bay. But Maryland has also suffered, with oyster reefs in this state’s portion of the Bay declining by about 80 percent in the last 25 years alone. From about 1990-2010, oyster harvests fell by 90 percent and the number of oystermen has plummeted by 75 percent.[endnoteRef:5] [4: William W. Brooks, The Oyster. Introduction by Dr. Kennedy T. Paynter, reprinted by Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1996, page xviii. ] [5: On the Brink: Chesapeake’s Native Oysters”, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2010, 5. Accessed August 1, 2017. http://www.cbf.org/document-library/cbf-reports/Oyster_Report_for_Release02a3.pdf]

To establish the importance of oysters in the bay, Shark Research Center Intern Nicole Suren of the University of Miami explains, “Oysters are not only a preferred dish of much of the human population, but they are also very important parts of the ecosystems [that] they inhabit.”[endnoteRef:6] This is because they do not merely “participate” in the habitat they settle in, but “improve” it by filtering large volumes of water and forming reefs that other organisms can use as shelter.[endnoteRef:7] Oysters were once able to filter all the water in the bay in about a week, and “the sharp decrease in the number of oysters means that it now takes the current oyster population about a year to filter the same amount of water.”[endnoteRef:8] Oyster populations are not what they were centuries ago, and oysters being a critical part of the bay’s ecosystem is also clear. It is of utmost significance to dedicate efforts towards oyster restoration because the size of the oyster population has decreased sharply, and it is an important part of the bay’s ecosystem. [6: “A Scientific History of Oysters in Chesapeake Bay,” University of Miami, last modified December 30, 2016, https://sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/conservation/a-scientific-history-of-oysters-in-chesapeake-bay.] [7: “A Scientific History of Oysters in Chesapeake Bay.”] [8: “Oyster Reefs,” NOAA, accessed July 28, 2017, https://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/oysters/oyster-reefs.]

Most important to convey here is that the reality is that the bay’s situation is not hopeless, although it is highly important and endangered. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s State of the Bay Report of 2016 explains that the Bay is “reaching a tipping point.” They explain that “we are seeing the clearest water in decades, regrowth of acres of lush underwater grass beds, and the comeback of the Chesapeake’s native oysters, which were nearly eradicated by disease, pollution, and overfishing.”[endnoteRef:9] While the past cannot be entirely returned to, evidence of what worked for Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans, namely living with nature for mutual benefit, suggests that establishing new sanctuaries in the Bay can help roll back some of the damage done by dredging, which takes oyster homes with them.[endnoteRef:10] There is measurable improvement in the bay’s health since positive human action, and therefore there is strong evidence of humankind’s ability to produce positive impact on the bay’s ecology by increasing its oyster population. [9: “2016 State of the Bay Report,” Chesapeake Bay Foundation, accessed July 28, 2017, http://www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/state-of-the-bay-report/2016/index.html.] [10: “Native Americans Harvested Oysters Responsibly. Why Can’t We,”? National Geographic, last modified June 10, 2016, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/06/sustainable-oyster-harvest-chesapeake-bay.]

Current Efforts

In 1993, the ‘Oyster Roundtable,’ a group of organizations, institutions, elected officials, businesses and individuals in Maryland created an action plan for oyster recovery.[endnoteRef:11] In 1994, this group became the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Most recently in 2010, Maryland designated 24 percent of the Oyster Bay as off-limits for harvesting. Finally, the federal agency of NOAA has been instrumental in leading restoration efforts with the goal of reintroducing native oysters to 10 tributaries by 2025. This is coherent with the goals set by Executive Order 13508 and the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. That goal was to restore native oyster habitat and populations in ten tributaries by 2025 and ensure their protection.[endnoteRef:12] In short, there are many efforts that have remained ongoing due to their degree of successes. For example, per the 2016 Maryland Oyster Restoration Update, Harris Creek had successfully achieved its goal of 350 acres of restored oyster reef.[endnoteRef:13] The full restoration of Harris Creek took five years, 2011-2016, and serves as a promising model for other tributaries. [11: “A brief history of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay,” The Baltimore Sun, last modified June 3, 2014, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-06-03/entertainment/bal-a-brief-history-of-oysters-in-the-chesapeake-bay-20140603_1_crassostrea-oysters-aquaculture-development-plan.] [12: “Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement”, Chesapeake Bay Program, 2014, 4. ] [13: 2016 Maryland Oyster Restoration Update, Maryland Oyster Restoration Interagency Workgroup of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team, April 2017, 3. ]

Another successful program is Marylanders Grow Oysters (MGO). Started in the Tred Avon River in 2008, MGO is an environmental stewardship program managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.[endnoteRef:14] The program was designed with the intentions of having waterfront residents’ help with oyster restoration in small scale, local oyster projects.[endnoteRef:15] [14: "Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland's Oyster Reefs," Department of Natural Resources, accessed August 07, 2017, http://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/MGO/index.aspx.] [15: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs”]

Currently, there are over 2,000 participants, 30 tributary areas, and 7,000 cages that are all working together to protect the young oysters during their first year of life.[endnoteRef:16] By suspending the spat from private piers so they can be successfully grown and then planted on local sanctuaries, MGO is helping each day to strengthen the ecosystem and the oyster population at the planting sites under MGO stewardship.[endnoteRef:17] MGO currently operates by local volunteer coordinators that are usually a river-group or a community association, such as the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, the Town of Chesapeake Beach, or the Severn River Association.[endnoteRef:18] Despite offering no charge to participants, MGO takes the rewards of their program very seriously. Both personally and ecologically, members of MGO are not only helping to restore the oyster population in their local area, but they are also working to create a greater abundance of fish and live bottom for Bay life on sanctuaries that are closed to harvesting.[endnoteRef:19] Our goal is to build on these successful programs by implementing an educational outreach grant, establishing a cooperative partnership between Paul’s Place, the Department of Natural Resources, and Oyster Recovery Partnership, and pursuing legislative action that supplies a foundational aspect of oyster restoration in Maryland. [16: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs”] [17: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs”] [18: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs”] [19: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs”]

Policy Alternative 1- Outreach and Education Program

       One policy option that addresses Maryland’s environmental literacy initiative is to better enhance the current outreach and education programs for oyster restoration, specifically through MGO. As Governor Hogan stated in his Executive Order of Project Green Classrooms, “All youth should have the opportunity to learn about the environment, develop a connection with nature, and have a sense of place in their local natural surroundings…”[endnoteRef:20] For Maryland county schools, it is essential that realistic and attainable measures are taken to increase environmental literacy rates and get school students interested about the environment, regardless of their year in school. MGO is a quintessential example of a program that can be broadened to better reach this goal of enhancing environmental literacy rates. By creating an established competitive grant program for Maryland public schools, MGO will not only get more students involved in oyster restoration, but they will enhance students’ environmental literacy rates by building invaluable hands-on learning experiences in and out of the classroom. [20: News.maryland.gov, accessed July 29, 2017, http://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2017/06/08/governor-larry-hogan-renews-commitment-to-environmental-education/.]

Since MGO got its start in 2008, one of the by-products that has been created is the building of local partnerships with Maryland county schools. Despite having never reached out to Maryland schools directly, MGO has an estimated 5,000 students in 15 schools as recently as 2017 that have been involved in MGOs mission to grow baby oysters.[endnoteRef:21] These partnerships have been created through MGO coordinators and volunteers and have resulted in many positive, unexpected benefits that go beyond MGOs founding focus on private pier owners. By using oysters and cages provided by MGO, numerous Maryland schools have started to incorporate oyster restoration programs through a multidisciplinary curriculum, even if they are located in a non-MGO area.[endnoteRef:22] Some of these schools include Mayo Elementary School, Somerset Intermediate School, and St. Mary’s College.[endnoteRef:23] If MGO establishes a competitive grant, they will be able to expand on their existing education programs in order to give more Maryland students the ability to truly immerse themselves in environmental science curriculum focused on oyster restoration. In addition, students will effectively meet several of the environmental education key learning areas that are outlined by the State Board of Education and achieve the outdoor experience Governor Hogan emphasized in the signing of his executive order of Project Green Classrooms this past June. [21: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs.”] [22: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs.”] [23: “Citizens Working to Enhance Maryland’s Oyster Reefs.”]

With the enactment made in 2011 by the State Board of Education, all public schools, from pre-school to graduation, were required to meet environmental education standards.[endnoteRef:24] This code of Maryland Regulations is stated in Title 13A State Board of Education, Subtitle 04 Specific Subjects, Chapter 17, Environmental Education, and states that “Each local school system shall provide in public schools a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education program within current curricular offerings that is aligned with the Maryland Environmental Literacy Curriculum.”[endnoteRef:25] The environmental education learning criteria is measured in eight key areas; (1) environmental issues, (2) interactions of earth’s systems, (3) flow of matter and energy, (4) populations, communities, and ecosystems, (5) humans and natural resources, (6) environment and health, (7) environment and society, (8) sustainability.[endnoteRef:26] [24: "Maryland's Environmental Literacy Standards," Futurepolicy.org, September 15, 2016, accessed July 29, 2017, http://www.futurepolicy.org/curricula-reform/marylands-els/.] [25: Division of State Documents, accessed July 29, 2017, http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/comarhtml/13a/13a.04.17.01.htm.] [26: Division of State Documents]

Since this code’s been enacted, there has been a great deal of both small and large scale education programs set forth to help students achieve the outlined standards. For instance, one of the MGO partner schools, Rock Hall Elementary School in Kent County, had a teacher who initiated their own oyster restoration project for her science class. By taking students out to their local harbor and placing oyster cages in the water, this teacher helped grow oysters and show her students the hands-on practice the process entails. A more wide-reaching program is the Maryland Environmental Literacy Partnership (M.E.L.P.). This program was created in 2012 and currently works with nine Maryland county schools to engage students in the environment through an “issues investigation framework.”[endnoteRef:27] These two examples, as well as many others that have been made possible due to efforts at the national, state, and local level, have all contributed to higher environmental literacy rates throughout the state. [27: "Maryland Environmental Literacy Partnership: Issues Investigation Framework," Http://maeoe.org, http://maeoe.org/ARCHIVE/2014/conference/Conference%20Presentations/Tom%20Ackerman%20-%20Maryland%20Environmental%20Literacy%20Partnership.pdf.]

MGO currently has the volunteer and partner coordinators that are needed to host Maryland county public schools in a competitive grant program called the String of Pearls. This grant program would be designed with the intentions of educating students on the MGO oyster restoration process in its entirety, allowing students the opportunity to meet the environmental education graduation requirements needed for their school. It is important that teachers have different choices when designing their classrooms environmental education curricula. With the creation of the String of Pearls grant, teachers will have the option to apply their classroom for the grant if they see oyster restoration being of significance to their students.

The String of Pearls grant would be available to any public school in Maryland so long as they fulfill the application criteria to apply to the program. Although these details would ultimately be decided on by MGO and their partner coordinators, the schools who compete for the grant would have their class write an essay addressing the topic of why restoring the oyster population should be important to all residents of Maryland. Essays would be read by MGO and their partner coordinators and once a decision is made as to what class had the best work, the grant would be awarded to them. The String of Pearls would be designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn and experience first-hand the stages of the oyster restoration process (an operation that takes up to 9 months). Following their field experience, the class would write a second essay that discusses what they learned by coming up with additional measures to help the oyster restoration initiative.

MGO could find the funds for the String of Pearls grant several different ways. The first option is to focus on the creation of new revenue streams through private donations. For instance, MGO could create a public-private partnership with Maryland restaurants that already cater to the oyster restoration effort. If state incentives were created for these restaurants, a program could then be enacted where restaurants voluntarily ask customers who order oysters to donate $1 to oyster environmental education. The accumulated funds from such a program would then go towards the String of Pearls grant. As the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Jana Davis, summarizes, “Oysters eaten for oysters restored.” A second option for grant funding is to raise money entirely through private donor investments. The Maryland Business Roundtable for Education is a research foundation that could potentially provide MGO with the needed partnerships to create the funds the String of Pearls grant needs to be successful. Although most government funds have already been allocated for other programs, it is still a possibility that MGO could find grant funding through government funds, such as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (NOAA B-WET) grant.

Policy Alternative 2- Community Service Partnership

The second policy alternative available to the state to further the oyster repopulation efforts is to fund a jobs training program to build new oyster cages for the MGO program. All volunteers who grow oysters through MGO receive free oyster cages, meaning a large supply of cages is crucial to the expansion of the program. MGO is a growing program, with more and more citizen engagement every year. To keep up with the demand for cages, MGO previously employed inmates through Maryland Correctional Enterprises to build these cages.

Each cage built costs $13 and would last several years in the water. Eventually the cages will rust and need to be replaced. Therefore, the MGO program not only needs a steady stream of new cages to expand their program, but a steady stream of cages to sustain the program at its current size. When DNR funding changed a few years ago, MGO was struggling to find new sources of cages for the program. For two years, there has been a cage shortage, forcing the program to use only those existing cages built in the past few years. Some rusty cages had to be kept in the water, risking the health of those oysters in the water. As a remedy, DNR created a new partnership with Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) to keep up the supply of cages for the MGO program.

Currently, ORP uses completely volunteer work to build the cages needed for the program. Equipment, material, and supervision are provided by ORP, but the labor is done out of the kindness of the public. Recently, a Boy Scout took his whole troop out to ORP and built cages to be put into his local tributary. This type of community effort is valued, but it is also unreliable and, such as the case of the Boy Scout, only for certain areas of the program.

ORP has a plan in the pipeline to change that, and needs government funding. The program would be relatively easy to put into place, only requiring a supervisor from ORP, a space to build, materials, and the help of Paul’s Place.[endnoteRef:28] Paul’s Place is a charity organization in the Washington Village/Pigtown neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore. It would be an optimal place to implement a cage-building program as it would bring work back to an area that has limited job opportunities. Through the work of building cages, a process that will help clean the Bay, homeless citizens can get job training and perhaps a future job through the growing aquaculture sector in Maryland. ORP and MGO are seeking funds to create this program. [28: Email Correspondence, Oyster Recovery Partnership, July 12, 2017. ]

Job training and workforce development are effective ways to gain better productivity, employment, and better pay. Workforce training has been shown to cause a 10% increase in employment and an $800 increase in quarterly payment.[endnoteRef:29] By training a group of homeless people as a unit, this type of teamwork has shown to foster better skills development and program retention. Sector-specific workforce development, i.e. aquaculture, has been shown to increase future oyster production. Finally, by training workers to be effective at jobs specific to aquaculture, MGO and ORP could be helping those homeless citizens get permanent jobs.[endnoteRef:30] [29: Ridley, Neil, and Elizabeth Kenefick. Research Shows the Effectiveness of Workforce Programs. PDF.] [30: What Works In Job Training: A Synthesis of the Evidence. PDF. U.S. Department of Labor, July 22, 2014.]

Policy Option 3- Legislative Action-Stacking Shells Program

One of the biggest challenges to restoring native oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay is rebuilding the reef habitat they need to survive.[endnoteRef:31] Scientists describe oysters as gregarious, because they need to live with—and on top of—other oysters. During spawning, male and female oysters must be near each other to allow mixing of their eggs and sperm, which are released into the water and carried at the mercy of the currents. Fertilized eggs develop into larvae that drift before settling to the bottom and beginning their sedentary lives as oysters. When they settle, larvae must find something hard to which they can attach, and the shells of other oysters are the primary home for these young “spat.”[endnoteRef:32] As oysters grow atop other oysters over many generations, they create a three-dimensional matrix of shell, a reef. Growing this way elevates oysters in the water column, which protects them from being buried in silt.[endnoteRef:33] [31: “On the Brink: Chesapeake’s Native Oysters”, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2010, 15. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cbf.org/document-library/cbf-reports/Oyster_Report_for_Release02a3.pdf] [32: “On the Brink: Chesapeake’s Native Oysters”, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2010, 14. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cbf.org/document-library/cbf-reports/Oyster_Report_for_Release02a3.pdf ] [33: “On the Brink: Chesapeake’s Native Oysters”, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2010, 15. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cbf.org/document-library/cbf-reports/Oyster_Report_for_Release02a3.pdf]

Rebuilding hard bottom habitat has been recognized as a critical need by panels of top oyster experts in Maryland. [endnoteRef:34] Our team chose to go visit the Horn Point Laboratory and Piney Point Hatchery, as they are the two pillars of oyster restoration efforts in Maryland. One of the main messages that they emphasized was the dire need for oyster shells. Their restoration goals are constantly restricted by the limited amount of oyster shell supply. The Shell Recycling Alliance has alleviated a portion of the demand for shells for the oyster restoration efforts. Their average collection for the past two years has been just over 30k bushels of oyster shells. “That would probably cover the entire MGO program”- Chris Judy (DNR). The recycling program is on track for a record setting year in 2017, as 15k bushels of shell had been collected by mid-June, which translates to about 19 acres of restored oyster reef.[endnoteRef:35] Oyster shells should be utilized as the substrate that serves as the necessary surface and foundation for oyster reefs. The Shell Recycling Alliance has seen a noticeable increase in the amount of shells donated since the implementation of the tax credit. It is evident that the most significant increases occurred from 2014 to 2015 with a steady continuation in 2016. As of 2016, the SRA officially surpassed 100,000 bushels obtained in six years of collecting.[endnoteRef:36] [34: “On the Brink: Chesapeake’s Native Oysters”, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 2010, 15. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cbf.org/document-library/cbf-reports/Oyster_Report_for_Release02a3.pdf] [35: “The Oyster Recovery Partnership welcomes 28 new shell recycling restaurants”, Oyster Recovery Partnership, June 13, 2017, Accessed August 1, 2017. https://oysterrecovery.org/blog/the-oyster-recovery-partnership-welcomes-29-new-shell-recycling-restaurants/ ] [36: “The Oyster Recovery Partnership welcomes 28 new shell recycling restaurants”, Oyster Recovery Partnership, June 13, 2017, Accessed August 1, 2017. https://oysterrecovery.org/blog/the-oyster-recovery-partnership-welcomes-29-new-shell-recycling-restaurants/]

Policy Action

There is currently an Oyster Shell Tax Income Credit Recycling Program that was signed into law as Chapter 278 and 279 of the 2013 legislative session and amended as Chapter 193 of the 2015 legislative session. The current law provides an income tax credit of $5 for each bushel of oyster shells that an individual or corporation recycles. The original legislation, HB 184, was sponsored by Delegate Stephen W. Lafferty during the 2013 legislative session. It established the Oyster Shell Recycling Program incentive at $1 per bushel with a cap limit of $750. The lack of successful results in 2014 demonstrated that the tax income credit needed to be increased to achieve its intended purpose. Therefore, Senator Roger Manno introduced, SB 694, during the 2015 legislative session. SB 694 was reflective of the need for a more lucrative incentive for the restaurants. Therefore, as an amendment bill it proposed an increase of the income tax credit from $1 per bushel to $5 per bushel, with the cap of $750 remaining intact. The 2018 legislative session provides the opportunity to renew this program. Given the success from 2015 and 2016, as demonstrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2, the program would be well served to be renewed for five additional fiscal years, FY 2018-FY 2022. These five years would allow for restaurants to recycle their oyster shells, which would not only save them waste management costs, but would also provide them with fiscal benefits, and increase awareness of the oyster restoration efforts in the Bay. The oyster shells that are collected by this program serve as one of the most integral parts of the oyster restoration process.

Figure 1: Amount of Bushels Collected by Shell Recycling Alliance 2012-2016

Source: Oyster Recovery Partnership and Shell Recycling Alliance

This program has demonstrated that it is progressing in the right direction. The Stacking Shells Program has demonstrated tangible successful results since the implementation of SB 694. After its initial start below market price, the amendment bill in 2015 provided the program with the advantageous incentive for it to succeed. The $5 per bushel tax credit exceeded the $2 market price and provided enough incentive for individuals, restaurants, and businesses to actively participate in the program. The positive results for the restaurant’s involvement were evident as of 2015. For example, “I can tell you that 39 restaurants claimed the $5 credit in 2015. This was a significant increase from 2014, when zero restaurants claimed the $1 tax credit” –Thomas Price (Shell Recycling Alliance Manager). These successful results of 2015 convey the message that restaurants were aware of the increased incentive and have seized the opportunity. These results are indicative of a win-win situation as the restaurants benefit from the income tax credit, oyster restoration benefits from the increased amount of shells, and Maryland leads the efforts toward successful restoration of tributaries in the Bay. Shown below are the results of the 2015 Oyster Shell Recycling Income Tax Credit program.

Figure 2: 2015 Oyster Shell Recycling Tax Credits Claimed

Tax Year 2015

 

 

Amount of Claim

# of Claimants

Total Claimed

 

 

 

$750

6

$4,500

$201-749

9

$3,557

<$201

24

$1,581

 

 

 

TOTALS

39

$9,638

Source:  Office of the Maryland Comptroller

The increase in the bushels collected and restaurants that claimed the tax credit are indicative of the successful tax credit incentive. It has been demonstrated that this quid pro quo program promotes a symbiotic relationship among local businesses, the Bay, and Maryland. As stated in 10-724.1 of Michie’s Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland, this advantageous program is set to abrogate on June 30, 2018.[endnoteRef:37] This program is reflective of Maryland’s dedication to restoring the Chesapeake Bay. The first step in that process is restoring the oyster population. Therefore, it behooves Marylanders and this administration to stay the course and support the renewal of this promising program. [37: Department of Legislative Services, Michie’s Annotated Code of the Public General Laws of Maryland, 2016 Replacement Volume, 325-326. ]

Analysis and Recommendations

The following analysis was conducted to ensure that the best policy would be optimized by the administration. All four group members used a one to five ranking scale that outlined six different criteria to evaluate the three policy options. The six criteria categories used to rank the policy options were cost, environmental stewardship, timeline of implementation, feasibility, people impacted, and impact on oyster restoration. We agreed that a rating of one would equate to the lowest (poor) of the five, and a rating of five would be the highest (excellent) rating. Each member evaluated the policies and assessed scores based on our evaluative criteria. We gathered as a group and shared our final assessments for each policy. We used an Excel spreadsheet to average the scores of each group member. Once the three averages were calculated, we chose the policy option that had the highest average rating of the three- “Stacking Shells Program.” Figure 3 displays the criteria that was submitted into the Excel Spreadsheet.

Figure 3: Evaluative Criteria Table

Cost

Environmental Stewardship

Timeline of Implementation

Feasibility

People Impacted

Oyster Restoration

Total

String of Pearls

3

5

4

3

4

3

22

Bridge the Gap

3

4

3

3

5

4

22

Stacking Shells

4

3

5

5

4

4

25

Each policy that we have provided would serve as an enormous benefit to the oyster restoration efforts in Maryland. All of the policies contain unique qualities that build upon the successful foundation of programs such as Marylanders Grow Oysters. Policy 1: “String of Pearls” Grant would likely inspire young students to become future biologists, marine scientists, or at the very least have a better awareness of their environment. It would also be quite congruent with the current environmental literacy goals. Therefore, it has long term benefits that would positively serve Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. Policy 2: “Bridge the Gap” Program would be a significant example of promoting job growth in Maryland. Paul’s Place is in the heart of “pig town,” which is an area of Baltimore that has seen significant job loss in the last couple of decades. This program would connect the hard-working people in that area with the Bay by bringing jobs right into their neighborhood. It is likely one of the better policies to revitalize a neighborhood. Policy 3: “Stacking Shells Program” would renew a lucrative tax incentive based program that rewards individuals, corporations, and restaurants that recycle their oyster shells. This program has collected more bushels of oyster shells and rewarded more tax credits to participating members with each progressing year. It is a policy that has demonstrated success and should be continued as a benefit to Maryland, restaurants, and the oyster restoration efforts.

We concluded that Policy 3: “Stacking Shells Program” is the best policy per our evaluative criteria. It is the low-hanging fruit, as it can be implemented the quickest, impact the most people, and have the strongest impact on current oyster restoration efforts. Although it incurs a minimal loss of tax revenue, the infrastructure for this program to succeed is already in place and the restaurants know the program’s recycling process. Therefore, the program is incredibly feasible because the biggest challenge would be its passage in the Maryland General Assembly, where it passed with an overwhelming majority in 2015[endnoteRef:38], a promising benchmark for a renewal bill in the 2018 legislative session. Once the renewal bill is passed, this successful program can continue to meet the high demands for oyster shells. [38: SB694-Income Tax Credit-Oyster Shell Recycling-Credit Amount, Document History, Maryland General Assembly, Accessed July 30, 2017. http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&stab=03&id=SB0694&tab=subject3&ys=2015rs ]

Conclusion

The oyster population is an urgent issue for the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, and the 17+ million people living in the Bay’s watershed areas. Marylanders take pride in the Chesapeake Bay, as it is an integral aspect of Maryland’s way of life. Whether it is inspiring a young student to be a future biologist, connecting good folks at Paul’s Place with the Bay, or renewing a propitious incentive, each would lead Maryland in the right direction. They would grant Marylanders the opportunity to prosper with the Chesapeake Bay, just as the Native Americans did hundreds of years ago.

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