Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Applications

Below are the pending commercial shellfish lease applications received by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources since January 1, 2021, and determined to be complete. Incomplete applications are not listed. Designation of an application as complete does not mean that the proposed lease location meets all of the criteria for lease approval, and proposed lease locations are subject to change throughout the review process. The status of each application will be updated as it progresses through the review process. Please refer to the legend below the list for an explanation of what each status description means.

LAST UPDATE: 3/04/2026

AppID	Name	Waterbody	County	Acres	Status	Received	Lease	Gear	Map?
619	Shockley Jr., Dorsey John	Fishing Bay	Dorchester	342.5	Application Complete	7/11/2025	SLL
618	Berger , Joel D	Teague Creek	Somerset	0.9	Phase I Review	6/30/2025	WC	Floats	Y
617	Wheedleton Sr, Charles E	Fishing Bay	Dorchester	1.3	Application Complete	5/19/2025	SLL
613	Craft , Brandon W	Rhode River	Anne Arundel	1.0	Phase II Review	1/22/2025	SLL		Y
612	Fernandes, Paula J.	St. Marys River	St. Mary's	1.9	Phase II Review	9/3/2024	WC	Cages	Y
611	Welch , Eric F	Smith Creek	St. Mary's	1.5	Phase II Review	8/21/2024	SLL		Y
610	Loveless , Donald	Honga River	Dorchester	28.3	Application Complete	8/19/2024	SLL
609	Loveless , Donald	Honga River	Dorchester	24.2	Hydrographic Survey	8/16/2024	SLL		Y
608	Townsend Sr., Steven M	Wicomico River	Somerset	1.0	Phase II Review	8/1/2024	SLL		Y
607	Gambrill , Derrick A	Wicomico River	Wicomico	76.4	Hydrographic Survey	7/8/2024	SLL		Y
606	Gambrill , Derrick A	Wicomico River	Wicomico	32.2	Hydrographic Survey	7/8/2024	SLL		Y
605	Hayden, Ellis M	St. Clements Bay	St. Mary's	54.0	Phase I Review	6/13/2024	SLL		Y
604	Gambrill , Derrick A	Wicomico River	Wicomico	14.5	Hydrographic Survey	6/6/2024	SLL		Y
603	Gambrill , Derrick A	Wicomico River	Wicomico	3.2	Hydrographic Survey	6/6/2024	SLL		Y
602	Salty Dog Oyster Company LLC	Tred Avon River	Talbot	3.0	Phase II Review	5/7/2024	SLL		Y
599	Hayden, Ellis M	Wicomico River	St. Mary's	28.0	Phase II Review	3/5/2024	SLL		Y
598	Farrington, Jon David	Wells Cove	Calvert	0.1	Hydrographic Survey	2/5/2024	WC	Cages	Y
597	Worrell , Daniel N.	Brockanorton Bay	Worcester	5.9	Lease Issued	1/21/2024	WC	Cages & Floats	PN
595	Beauchamp , Lee R	Chincoteague Bay	Worcester	1.1	Pending Issuance	10/19/2023	WC	Cages & Floats	PN
594	Morris Jr, John B.	Smith Creek	St. Mary's	4.0	Hydrographic Survey	10/15/2023	SLL		Y
590	Hollywood Oyster Company, LLC	Patuxent River	St. Mary's	10.6	Public Notice	7/25/2023	WC	Cages	PN
589	Tibbs , Brandon C	Choptank River	Dorchester	19.9	Application Complete	7/24/2023	SLL
588	Tibbs , Devin L	Fishing Bay	Dorchester	14.9	Public Notice	7/12/2023	SLL		PN
587	Robinson Sr, Timothy M	Fishing Bay	Dorchester	36.6	Public Notice	6/27/2023	SLL	Cages	PN
586	Lancashire Farms, Inc.	Harris Creek	Talbot	4.1	Lease Issued	6/21/2023	WC	Cages & Floats
585	Horseman , Mary L	Honga River	Dorchester	4.9	Phase II Review	5/22/2023	SLL		Y
584	Beauchamp , Lee R	Chincoteague Bay	Worcester	2.4	Withdrawn	3/28/2023	WC	Bags	Y
583	Miles River Oysters LP	Miles River	Talbot	25.1	Withdrawn	2/6/2023	WC	Cages
582	Duffy , Marc R.	Miles River	Talbot	2.1	Lease Issued	1/26/2023	SLL		PN
581	Duffy , Marc R.	Miles River	Talbot	2.7	Lease Issued	1/26/2023	SLL		PN
580	Baunhofer , Jess R	Parker Bay	Worcester	1.9	Lease Issued	12/19/2022	WC	Cages & Floats	PN
577	Miles River Oysters LP	Miles River	Talbot	25.1	Phase II Review	11/21/2022	WC	Cages & Floats	Y
576	Parran, Lisa	Hellen Creek	Calvert	6.6	Pending Issuance	10/4/2022	SLL		PN
575	Horseman , James A	Farm Creek	Dorchester	9.0	Phase I Review	8/17/2022	SLL		Y
574	Horseman Enterprise, LLC	Farm Creek	Dorchester	0.2	Phase II Review	8/3/2022	SLL		Y
573	Hayden, Jr., Joseph C.	Tar Bay	Dorchester	38.0	Lease Issued	6/24/2022	SLL		PN
572	Zeinog , Ryan	Little Choptank River	Dorchester	31.3	Lease Issued	6/21/2022	SLL		PN
571	Morris III, John B.	Smith Creek	St. Mary's	1.8	Lease Issued	6/20/2022	SLL		PN
570	Morris III, John B.	Smith Creek	St. Mary's	4.5	Lease Issued	6/20/2022	SLL		PN
569	Abbott Jr, Wylie M	Fishing Bay	Dorchester	111.0	Lease Issued	5/20/2022	WC	Cages	PN
568	Phillips, Mark C.	Tar Bay	Dorchester	34.3	Lease Issued	5/11/2022	SLL
567	Horseman, James A.	Farm Creek	Dorchester	8.1	Lease Issued	5/5/2022	SLL		PN
566	Abbott, Jason A.	Monie Bay	Somerset	7.1	Pending Issuance	5/3/2022	SLL		PN
565	Horseman, Mary L	Madison Bay	Dorchester	70.4	Lease Issued	4/8/2022	SLL		PN
564	Green Pearl, LLC	Harris Creek	Talbot	4.2	Lease Issued	2/22/2022	SLL		PN
563	Maryland Seafood Cooperative, Inc.	Choptank River	Dorchester	27.1	PIM Request/Protest	11/29/2021	SLL		PN
562	Maryland Seafood Cooperative, Inc.	Little Choptank River	Dorchester	40.0	Terminated	11/29/2021	SLL		Y
561	Horseman, John	Madison Bay	Dorchester	36.5	Lease Issued	11/1/2021	SLL		PN
560	Price, Joshua	Chester River	Queen Anne's	5.7	Lease Issued	10/28/2021	WC	Cages
559	Abey, Angela	Choptank River	Dorchester	12.1	Lease Issued	10/21/2021	SLL		PN
558	St. Michaels Oyster Company, LLC	Harris Creek	Talbot	3.8	Withdrawn	10/21/2021	WC	Floats	Y
557	Solar Oysters, LLC	Chesapeake Bay	Calvert	7.5	Withdrawn	8/16/2021	WC	Floats	Y
556	Solar Oysters, LLC	Chesapeake Bay	Calvert	7.3	Withdrawn	8/16/2021	WC	Floats	Y
555	Abey, Ann	Choptank River	Dorchester	2.9	Lease Issued	8/10/2021	SLL		PN
554	Wisner, Eric	Tangier Sound	Dorchester	55.2	Lease Issued	7/15/2021	SLL
553	Wilson , Coby R	Harris Creek	Talbot	5.7	PIM Request/Protest	6/28/2021	SLL		PN
552	St. Jeromes Crossroads, LLC	Chesapeake Bay	St. Mary's	13.3	Lease Issued	4/9/2021	WC	Cages and Floats
540	Thomas, Jr., Raymond	Eastern Bay	Queen Anne's	21.1	PIM Request/Protest	4/16/2020	SLL		PN
533	Dean, Rachel A.	Patuxent River	Calvert	2.7	PIM Request/Protest	12/4/2019	WC	Cages	PN
524	Lewis, Jr., Bradford R.	Crab Alley Bay	Queen Anne's	1.6	Pending Issuance	9/5/2019	SLL		PN
520	Wallace, Elizabeth	Leadenham Creek	Talbot	3.0	Hydrographic Survey	7/29/2019	WC	Cages	Y
517	Poulos , Matthew	Chesapeake Bay	Calvert	12.3	PIM Request/Protest	5/31/2019	WC	Cages	PN
501	Kellam III, Paul	Calvert Bay	St. Mary's	29.8	PIM Request/Protest	3/22/2019	SLL
499	Maryland Seafood Cooperative, Inc.	Chesapeake Bay	St. Mary's	41.6	On Hold	3/13/2019	SLL		Y
462	Lumpkins, Robert Lance	St. Mary's River	St. Mary's	19.8	PIM Request/Protest	4/3/2018	SLL		PN

The "Lease" column above refers to Lease Type.

SLL = submerged land lease
WC = water column lease

Application Status Legend

Application Complete (App. Complete) - The department has received a Joint Application for State Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Lease and Corps of Engineers Federal Permit and determined that it included the required components and application fee necessary to proceed with review.
Phase I Review - The department has initiated its internal review to evaluate the proposed lease site for compliance with statutory and regulatory criteria for leasing.
Phase II Review - The proposed lease site is evaluated using Geographic Information System (GIS) software for proximity to and compatibility with ecological and cultural resource areas of concern, and comments on the application are compiled from other state and federal regulatory agencies.
Hydrographic Survey - The proposed lease site is surveyed by the department's hydrographic engineer to obtain the legal coordinates and acreage that will be mapped and advertised. Temporary corner markers are placed on the proposed site at this time.
Public Notice - The department advertises a notice of the application in a newspaper circulated within the county in which the proposed site is located. The notice appears in the paper once a week for two consecutive weeks, followed by a 30-day public comment period. The notice is also available to view on the department's Public Notice web page.
PIM Request/Protest - The department received a request for a Public Information Meeting and/or a Petition of Protest during the public comment period. An application will remain in this status until a meeting request has been fulfilled, if necessary, and while the department works with all parties toward resolution of any outstanding protests. This may include adjudication of the protest through the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings.
Pending Issuance - The department has concluded its application review and determined, based on the results of the review and/or an administrative hearing, that a shellfish lease may be issued.
Lease Issued – A shellfish lease was issued by the department.

If you would like to receive alerts when the department updates this aquaculture application tracking tool, please sign up to receive emails from the department. Interested parties may receive emails by submitting their email address and selecting the Subscription Topic titled "Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Applications".

For more information about this list or the Aquaculture and Industry Enhancement Division, please contact Sam Pellegrini, phone 410-260-8648, email [email protected]