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Choptank River Oyster Ranch (The Choptank Oyster Company in Cambridge)
The Choptank Oyster Company has been operating their oyster ranch on the Choptank River since 1996. Historically, millions of bushels of oysters were harvested annually in the area. In the 1970s, that number started to decline dramatically. Over harvesting and degradation of the local ecosystem has nearly decimated the wild oyster population. Despite extensive oyster restoration projects, natural oyster beds are sparsely populated. Choptank River Oyster Ranch cultures the eastern oyster known as Crassostrea virginica, which is native to the Chesapeake Bay. Several million oysters grow in their ranch and contribute to cleaning the bay water. Most of these oysters will spawn at least once before harvest thus releasing billions of oyster larvae into the water column to be distributed throughout the bay by tidal currents. This oyster ranch operates the only privately funded oyster hatchery in the state of Maryland. (The Choptank Oyster Company website)