CAMBRIDGE, Md. - It's a big win for some watermen after nearly a decade-long fight.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave Maryland approval to dredge 5 million bushels of oyster shells from the Man O' War Shoal oyster sanctuary located in the Patapsco River near Anne Arundel County.
Delmarva Fisheries Board Member Tom Bradshaw says they've been fighting for nearly a decade to get the fossilized shell to oyster bars in Maryland including the Eastern Shore.
"It's definitely a good thing and a win for oyster restoration," Bradshaw said.
Now with federal approval, Bradshaw says it could help things like the Watermen's Seed and Shell Program - a program where watermen use large hoses to spray off piles of oyster shells into bay waters.
But environmentalists, like Alan Girard of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, say dredging the area isn't worth the price.
"There's a lot of concerns with this preliminary approval," Girard said. "The expense is considerable and is estimated upwards of $25 million in order to dredge the shell. That money would come out Maryland's Oyster Restoration budget."
Girard also says man-made bottom, which is sometimes made out of concrete, can work four times better than oyster shell.
But Bradshaw disagrees and argues the best way to replenish oyster numbers is using natural oyster shell.
"Concrete's got a lot of added chemicals into it, hardeners, resins and stuff like that," Bradshaw said.
Maryland's Board of Public Works will review and decide if project moves through likely later this year.
Girard says that if it is approved, the project could put fish habitats and the health of the Chesapeake Bay at risk.
"There's a lot of reasons to stay out of this project," Girard said.
Bradshaw says he hopes to see the oyster shells go to both sanctuaries and bars, if approved.
