A storied Maryland State buoy tender that broke ice for the Bay’s most vulnerable water communities has begun a significant retirement gig as a large-scale oyster planting vessel. The heavy-duty vessel is helping oyster restoration crews reach a new milestone.
The J. Millard Tawes, which served the Maryland Department of Natural Resources from 1972 to 2020, was first commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1942, making her 83 years young. As Chesapeake Bay Magazine reported, she was a lifeline for Crisfield and Smith Island (along with supporting Tangier Island) when harbors iced over. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) could also call upon the Tawes to evacuate Smith Island during hurricanes or other weather emergencies. She was replaced by a new icebreaker, the Eddie Somers, named after the longtime captain of the Tawes.
Robert Lee LLC, an oyster planting contractor, bought and retrofitted the 100-foot-long Tawes as an oyster planting vessel. It’s a fitting new role for a boat whose namesake, Crisfield native Maryland Governor J. Millard Tawes, was known for his early conservation leadership. When Tawes was elected to his first term in 1958, he established/organized several state departments. His Department of Chesapeake Bay Affairs helped begin the rehabilitation of the oyster industry by initiating a broad-scale oyster shell planting program. (The department later became part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources).
When Robert Lee LLC acquired the Tawes close to two years ago, the former buoy tender had to be overhauled. Owner Jamie Harrington tells us all of the decking was replaced and an entirely new pilothouse built.
The Tawes is a good fit for oyster operations because of her shallow draft and ability to accommodate a heavy load. She is now working on state contracts both in sanctuaries and in the public fishery, along with tending the companys’s own aquaculture leases.
On May 6, the Tawes was deployed to help the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) complete a historic milestone. She delivered 23 million oysters to the Manokin River, Maryland’s fifth and final oyster sanctuary set for restoration under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Watch how the crew gets 23 million oysters overboard in this ORP video:
Now that the Tawes has a role in ORP’s oyster-planting fleet, the partnership has been able to double its planting volume for a single trip. ORP is proud that by partnering with small businesses like Robert Lee LLC, and with the help of state-federal programs like the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, it is now capable of producing and planting one billion oysters per year.
They’re in the final race to the finish line to complete the Manokin’s initial restoration. At around 450 acres, the project is unprecedented as the largest of all 11 Chesapeake Bay tributaries targeted for large-scale restoration (10 in Maryland and Virginia that were agreed upon under the Watershed Agreement, and Virginia’s “bonus sanctuary” in the Elizabeth River).
ORP Coastal Restoration Program Manager Olivia Caretti says the timing is perfect as the sun sets on the 2014 Watershed Agreement framework. ORP hopes to finish the Manokin in July, depending on hatchery production and weather.
Once the Manokin is complete, the state of Maryland will continue to move forward with more large-scale sanctuary projects: the Nanticoke River, Herring Bay, and Hooper Strait. “These are really productive sanctuaries that hold a lot of capacity, so we’re really excited,” Caretti tells us.
