Public Shellfishery Areas

The specific coordinates of Public Shellfish Fishery Areas (PSFA) in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries are described in the document, "Public Shellfish Fishery Areas of the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries (October 2025)", which is incorporated by reference in COMAR 08.02.04.17. Per Maryland statute (Natural Resources Article §4-11A-04), the PSFA may not be leased for shellfish aquaculture. However, COMAR 08.02.04.17 also provides that a portion of a PSFA may be declassified, i.e., removed from the PSFA, if certain criteria are met (see Supplemental Information).This revised dataset includes the following update:1) Declassify a portion of PSFA 83 to allow for shellfish aquaculture; and 2) Make corrections to the buffers of PSFA 152 and PSFA 156.
Organization: State of Maryland
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/maryland
Last updated: 2026-06-09
Tags: biota, environment, maryland, md, md imap, oysters, sea scallop, shellfish