The purpose of this EIS is to identify a preferred oyster restoration alternative(s) for establishing an oyster population that reaches a level of abundance in Chesapeake Bay that would support sustainable harvests comparable to harvest levels during the period 1920–1970.

A need exists is to restore the ecological role of oysters in the Bay and the economic benefits of a commercial fishery through native oyster restoration and/or an ecologically compatible non-native oyster species that would restore these lost functions.