Heather Leslie discusses Maine oyster comeback with Civil Eats
Wild oysters have returned to Maine after nearing extinction almost 100 years ago. Professor Heather Leslie, a marine conservation scientist and Mitchell Center faculty fellow, spoke with Civil Eats to explain what might be happening to cause the growth in their presence.
A recent Civil Eats article tells the comeback story of oysters to the Damariscotta River estuary. Leslie and Sarah Risley have had a front row seat. Leslie is a Mitchell Center faculty fellow and University of Maine professor of marine sciences. Risley is a doctoral student in UMaine’s Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program.
For the last century, it’s been thought that the once abundant Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were functionally extinct from Maine’s tidal rivers. An April 2025 report published by Leslie, Risley, and two others counters this idea, documenting a reemergence of wild oyster populations in the Damariscotta River estuary.
The number of oyster farms in the estuary has ballooned in the past few decades — fueled by warming waters which favor the growth of oysters and exuberant foodies who love to toss back the briny bivalves.
Over time, people started to observe wild Eastern oysters in close proximity to the oyster farms, including Risley. She spent two years conducting surveys of intertidal zones, counting and measuring oysters to understand the baseline population.
“We are thinking about how the connection between the two populations might play into oyster restoration,” explained Risley in the article. “Where the project is moving now is thinking about how we take this information about emerging populations and put it to use creating sustaining populations.”