Who wants to attend a seminar about oyster restoration at 10:00 a.m. on a late-winter, spring-forward Sunday morning? The Herrington Harbour Sailing Association Commodore, Beverly Wright, and members of Women Underway, that’s who! The WU group, representing a subset of the HHSA, sponsored a presentation by John Bacon, Steering Committee Chair of the Chesapeake Beach Oyster Cultivation Society, at its monthly meeting on March 9, 2015.
It may have been seasonal restlessness, but I’d like to think it was a shared concern for the Chesapeake Bay that inspired not just WU members, but several of the HHSA general members to gather at Dockside Restaurant in Deale, MD, to learn why oyster reef recovery is essential to restoring the bay’s health.
After the seminar, one of WU’s newest members, exclaimed, “Mr. Bacon just increased my knowledge of oysters by 100 percent!” For that increased awareness alone, Mr. Bacon may consider his time well spent with the HHSA.
Volunteers release mature oysters onto the bay reefs off the shores of Chesapeake Beach, MD
Oysters once supported the most valuable fishery in the bay. Today, the native oyster population has been estimated to be as low as one percent of peak levels. The oysters are important to the health of the bay because they act as “filter feeders”; a single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day by eating algae. The filtering improves the bay’s oxygen levels, allows more light to penetrate the water, and permits submerged aquatic vegetation to grow.
HHSA members learned from Mr. Bacon about the CBOCS oyster restoration initiative located under the historic Rail Trail along Fishing Creek in Chesapeake Beach, MD, where 120 volunteers have installed 30 growth cages since 2011. This project is just one of several around the bay that relies on non-profit organizations and state, local community, and volunteer resources to increase the bay’s oyster population.
Historic Rail Trail, Fishing Creek, Chesapeake Beach, MD
A simple task oyster-eaters can take to help with the oyster restoration program is to recycle oyster shells. Oyster spat attach themselves to oyster shells where they safely grow and mature, and the shells are becoming increasingly scarce. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation established five donation sites around the west bay area, and several restaurants also participate in the Save Oyster Shell project.
Mr. Bacon asked for members’ help to find a buoy that marks the location of a special growth cage that was lost in one of this winter’s storms.
Department of Natural Resources’ oyster-growth research site buoy
If you see this buoy while you’re out enjoying a day on the bay, please call Mr. Bacon at (410) 286-3572 and provide him with its coordinates. Oyster gardening activity flourishes in spring and fall with oyster planting, harvesting, and release.
If you are interested in donating your time or providing financial assistance for this important bay restoration effort, detailed information can be found on the on the CBOCS and CBF websites.
