This webpage is updated annually. The last update was 7/15/2025. Data could change in the future as additional harvest reports are submitted to the department. This website does not include oyster harvest from aquaculture.

The public fishery commercial oyster season typically begins on October 1st and ends on March 31st, thus oyster harvest information is displayed below by the oyster season and not calendar year. For example, the 2024-2025 oyster season relates to oyster harvest from 10/1/2024 to 3/31/2025.

To commercially harvest oysters within the public fishery, individuals are required to be licensed through the department. There are two types of public fishery commercial oyster harvest licenses:

• Unlimited Tidal Fish (TFL) - Comprehensive commercial fishing license allowing for the harvest of multiple fish species, including crabs, clams and oysters. The maximum number of TFL is 2,064.


• Oyster Harvester (OYH) - This license only allows the commercial harvest of oysters. The maximum number of OYH is 732.

Individuals with either a TFL or OYH license must also annually purchase an oyster surcharge in order to commercially oyster each oyster season. Revenue collected from surcharge purchases are used to replenish public oyster bars by planting juvenile oysters and substrate. The annual number of oyster surcharges purchased varies per year as shown by the graph below. The minimum number of surcharges purchased was 310 for the 2003-2004 season and maximum was 1,354 for the 2022-2023 season.

Oyster harvest within the commercial public fishery is reported to the department three ways:

• Maryland Monthly Oyster Reports - These reports are submitted by the commercially licensed harvester monthly during the oyster fishery season. Daily reported harvest is recorded on the forms along with associated information about where the harvest occurred, what gear was used, hours worked, crew count, and dealer the harvest was sold to. These reports started being required in October 2009.


• Shellfish Seafood Dealer Buy Tickets - All commercial oyster harvest must be sold to a licensed seafood dealer (licensed by both the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Department of Health). The tickets are required to be submitted weekly by licensed dealers purchasing oysters commercially in Maryland waters (excluding aquaculture). Each ticket provides information on oysters purchased from each licensed harvester daily along with associated information about where the harvest occurred, what gear was used, and price by bushel.


• Monthly Dealer Buying Reports - This report is submitted by licensed seafood dealers monthly. It provides information on the total monthly amount of oysters purchased from in-state licensed harvesters and purchased from out-of-state sources along with average pricing.

Maryland has been collecting commercial landings information since the 1870s. Since buy tickets were required prior to the monthly reports, typically buy tickets are used to show total reported harvest over time. The graph below shows reported commercial oyster harvest from buy tickets since the 2000-2001 season (starting from 10/1/2000) to the last completed season 2024-2025 (ending on 3/31/2025). Reported harvest has ranged from a minimum of 25 thousand bushels during the 2003-2004 season to a maximum of 723 thousand bushels during the 2022-2023 season. In the 2024-2025 season, reported harvest was 322 thousand bushels.

Dockside value represents the value of the harvest when it is landed by the harvester (excludes value added from restaurants, shipping, shucking houses, festivals, etc.). Using the average price per bushel as reported on the buy tickets, estimated dockside value of the public commercial oyster fishery can be calculated (number of bushels landed multiplied by the average price per bushel). Estimated dockside value has varied over time as shown on the graph below.

Since the 2000-2001 season, estimated dockside value (actual values; not adjusted for inflation) for public fishery oysters has ranged from a minimum of $0.74 million in 2003-2024 to a maximum of $31 million in 2022-2023. In the 2024-2025 season, estimated dockside value was $11 million.