June 9, 2026 — Through the National Fish Habitat Partnership, NOAA Fisheries supports projects that restore habitat in collaboration with recreational anglers. Partners are reporting progress on several ongoing projects that actively engage local communities and recreational anglers to conserve fish habitat.
Engaging Anglers in Oyster Reef Monitoring
Sponsoring Partnership: Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership
Restoring the habitat provided by oyster reefs has long been a focus of NOAA Fisheries. In the Chesapeake Bay, this has led to restoration of roughly 3 square miles of healthy reef habitat. NOAA scientists help plan, implement, and monitor oyster reef restoration. Engaging local communities in restoration of oyster reefs is key to project success, so our partners at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) recruited local recreational anglers to participate in fishing surveys to track how fish use restored reefs in the South River in Maryland. CBF is also using other data collection methods such as video, water quality, and fishing surveys to monitor this oyster reef restoration progress.
In addition to fishing surveys, CBF has been working to plan the 7th Annual Rod and Reef Slam catch-and-release fishing tournament to showcase the importance of healthy habitat. By awarding anglers for a high diversity of catches, rather than the largest catch by size, this tournament heavily depends on healthy oyster reefs to support diverse fish populations.
This project is sponsored by the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership and is made possible by an agreement with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.