| Meet Our Mascot! | |
 Thanks for your help naming our new Oyster Mascot Shelly and mud crab sidekick Lucky.
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| Find us on Facebook | |
 Visit our ORP Fan Page today! Send any content ideas to the Fan Page administrator.
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| Become a Sponsor | |
 We're currently looking for a 2010-2011 sponsor for the newly established Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance. Sign up today!
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| Outreach Events |
May 6, 2010
11 am - 3 pm
Baltimore, MD
Centreville, MD
June 19-20, 2010
10 am - 6 pm
Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds
Crownsville, MD
Daily
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| Oyster News | |
March 25, 2010
April 10, 2010
WBOC TV//Eddie Walters and Oyster Recovery Partnership efforts at the hatchery to support Maryland's new Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance
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| Meet Our Board Members | |
 For more than 40 years, Karen Oertel has been involved in the seafood
industry alongside her family. She is currently an integral member in the Harris Family Partnership with many holdings. As an active member of her community, Karen has served on many boards relating to business
and non-profits alike -- including county and state boards and commissions. She is currently serving on the Executive Board of the Oyster Recovery Partnership -- a position she has held for many years. In fact, Karen helped spawn the ORP as a member of the Oyster Round Table and also served on the Tidal Fish Commission. She resides on the Eastern Shore with her husband and enjoys spending time with her 3 children and 5 grandchildren.
"I believe that we need to find a sustainable path, both ecologically and economically, to restore oysters in our Bay and have worked diligently to support a balance that would achieve this goal," said
Oertel. "We deal with many challenges in this venture -- one of which is disease. Having a sustainable industry until the 1970's when disease became a factor, we have supported the scientific community in developing disease-free oysters, as well as the industry in cleaning the Bay bottom and bringing the shell to the surface. By working together as a team we have been successful in finding some common sense solutions. However, our fight is not over; we need to continue to find the balance that works."
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About the Oyster Recovery Partnership |
Since 1994, the non-profit Oyster Recovery Partnership and its coalition of partners have been producing and planting hundreds of millions of oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. Working with more than a dozen stakeholder groups to rehabilitate historic and relic oyster bars, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has rehabilitated more than 1,300 acres of once viable oyster reefs. Dedicated to restoring the ecologic and economic benefits of the Bay, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has become Maryland's leader in revitalizing the Bay's once productive Eastern oyster. |
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| Oyster Recovery Partnership Launches Maryland's First Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance | |
Oyster Recovery Partnership Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance 2009-2010 Sponsor Doug Legum Photo by: Erika Nortemann  |
The Oyster Recovery Partnership launched Maryland's first Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance in late March in Baltimore, MD together with more than 20 restaurants, catering companies and seafood wholesalers, the regional oyster shucking community and volunteers. The Alliance is focusing on collecting used oyster and clam shells from restaurants and caterers in the Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, DC metro area.
This initiative all began with volunteers from the oyster shucking community who cared deeply about the Bay and wanted to prevent the shells from going into a landfill.
 Local oyster shuckers, watermen and Oyster Recovery Partnership staff are conducting ongoing pickups delivered to three dumpsters in the region. The shell are then transported via Oyster Recovery Partnership vehicles and deposited to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Horn Point Lab Hatchery in Cambridge, MD for aging. About one year after collection, the hatchery attaches small oysters ("spat") to the shells and they are replanted into the Bay on strategically-designated areas by the Oyster Recovery Partnership in cooperation with our many partners including the UMCES, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Army Corp of Engineers, University of Maryland, Maryland Watermen's Association and Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Over the last 18 months, the pilot program collected more than 3,000 bushels or 1.5 million shells from local catering companies and on-call pickups. The successful pilot immediately attracted 20 high-profile restaurants and caterers who are now official Alliance partners. The goal is to expand the collection points across Maryland and Washington, DC. It is estimated that approximately 15 million new oysters will be planted back into the Chesapeake Bay as a result of this initiative thus far. We are expecting that over 5,000 bushels will be collected in our first Alliance year, enough shell to provide substrate for 25 million spat on shell.
The Alliance's 2009-2010 Season is sponsored by a generous donation by Maryland citizen Mr. Doug Legum and matching grant funds provided by DNR and NOAA.
Only a handful of other States currently have shell collection programs, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and New Hampshire. Each state has customized their shell collection process to take advantage of the local oyster consumption habits. In the case of Maryland, a majority of shells are generated from catered events like bull and oyster roasts.
If you're interested in participating, please sign up on our website or contact Bryan Gomes on 410.990.4970. Alliance Partners
Oysters are served at participating Alliance partner The Oceanaire in Baltimore.  |
Annapolis
Boatyard Bar & Grill
Federal House
Hell Point
McGarvey's Saloon
Middleton's Tavern
Rams Head Tavern
The Rockfish
Stan & Joe's
Baltimore
Atlantic Catering
Bo Brooks
Bob's Seafood
Café Hon
Intercontinental Harbor Court Hotel
Mama's on the Half Shell
McCormick & Schmick
Michael's Eight Avenue
Nicks Cross Street
Nick's Fish House
Oceanaire
Ocean Pride
Phillips Seafood
Rusty Scupper
Ryleighs
Woodberry Kitchen
Grasonville W.H. Harris Seafood D.C. Old Ebbitt Grill |
| Oyster Recovery Partnership Celebrates Earth Day: Raises $25,000 in Sprint for Spat | |
Sprint for Spat 2010 race participants pose post-race.  |
ORP celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year with thousands of Marylanders. Attending and supporting several events, our staff and volunteers honored Mother Earth at the Nature Conservancy's Sprint for Spat Earth Day 5k in Silver Spring, Ft. Meade's Earth Day 2010, the Salisbury Zoo Earth Day, and Quiet Waters Park Earth Day celebrations.
Children tong for oysters on ORP's Li'l Nippers display at Ft. Meade's Earth Day celebration.  |
Thank you for supporting or participating in these events. The Nature Conservancy's Sprint for Spat Earth Day 5k was a sold out race with 1,100 runners! We raised $25,000 to plant oysters in the Bay. The Nature Conservancy offered race participants a chance to vote on a local river to plant oysters, and the Patuxent River won!
This Earth Day was a reminder that together we can make a difference. We look forward to seeing you on the Bay.
Stephan Abel, Executive Director
Oyster Recovery Partnership |
| Ask a Scientist | |  Q: How can you tell if an oyster is male or female?
A: You cannot differentiate a male oyster from a female simply by looking at their shells. One unique quality of oysters is that they have the ability to change their sex one or more times during their life span. Oysters are protandrous hermaphrodites (meaning that they start their life as males and then change into females as they mature). In order to determine if the oyster is male or female, the fluid from the oyster's gonads must be inspected under a microscope for the presence of either sperm or eggs. An oyster's gonad, the organ that produces both eggs and sperm, is found near the digestive organs and contain sex cells, tubules which branch out, and connective tissue.
Steven Allen, MSc, Senior Manager, Aquatic Restoration & Scientific Diver, Oyster Recovery Partnership |
| Partner Profile | |  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) mission is to "Provide vital public engineering services in peace and war to strengthen our Nations security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' vision is "A GREAT engineering force of highly disciplined people working with our partners through disciplined thought and action to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to the Nation's engineering challenges."
Within USACE is an Environmental Community of Practice, which provides the public with a central access to news and information about the environment. The Corps supports or manages numerous environmental initiatives including ecosystem restoration, formerly used defense sites, environmental stewardship, support to EPA superfund and brownfields programs, abandoned mine lands, formerly utilized sites remedial action program, base realignment and closure 2005, and regulatory.
In Maryland's Bay-related projects, the USACE works closely with the Oyster Recovery Partnership and the other restoration partners. Working in the Chesapeake Bay for nearly 15 years, the USACE role has been primarily to provide and plant substrate on which oyster spat will be planted, along with project planning and monitoring. In 2009, granite, concrete, and other materials were planted in strategic locations on over 13 acres in the Severn River. In 2010, another substrate enhancement project will be commencing in the Choptank River for a new sanctuary reef.
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| Out & About | |
The Annapolis Maritime Museum seeks to connect the richness of the maritime heritage of the Annapolis area with our local youth and adults. The Museum operates from a waterside campus on the shores of Back Creek, with unequaled views of the Chesapeake Bay. The Museum campus is the site of the last remaining oyster packing plant in the area, the McNasby's Oyster Packing Company. The McNasby building was severely damaged by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, but has been restored, thanks to community support, with a new keystone exhibit, "Oysters on the Half Shell," using an aquarium, touch tank, touch screens, a giant oyster model and cut-away sections of a deadrise workboat to highlight the natural history of the oyster and why it's so important to the health of the Bay, as well as the cultural history of the hard-working men and women who earned their pay shucking and packing oysters at McNasby's or harvesting them out on the water.
The Museum's activities have continued and grown through sheer determination, first in our other campus building, the 650 square-foot Barge House, restored through volunteer efforts and in-kind donations. It is the Museum's "one-room schoolhouse," hosting meetings, lectures, concerts, and children's activities. The Barge House is also the launching point for the Museum's tours to the iconic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. With a great deal of community support, the Museum has continued to do great things -- full steam ahead! |
| Did You Know? | | |
An oyster in the 1700s was considered large if it was 10 inches from hinge to bill. How many inches from hinge to bill would an oyster be today to be considered large?
a. 3 b. 6 c. 8 d. 11
Answer from last issue's question: Approximately how many bushels of oysters were harvested in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay in 2000? b. 380,000. This statistic was extracted from the document: A Brief History of Oyster Population Surveys in Maryland Including a Summary of the 2002 Survey Results By: Mitchell Tarnowski Maryland DNR, Shellfish Program; "Maryland's Total Oyster Landings In Bushels by Harvest Year" Annual (Harvest/Seasonal Year) Commercial Total Oyster (Bushels) Landings. As stated on the document: Data represents Maryland's commercial harvest (Chesapeake Bay and ocean combined) by harvest (seasonal) year (fall and winter). |
| Oyster Recipe | |
Ingredients:
1 pint shucked oysters (keep liquid or drain, depending on amount of sauce you want)
Champagne to cover oysters in bottom of pan
1/2 pint of fresh cream
Directions:
Poach oysters in pan with the champagne/cream mixture for about 12 minutes to make sauce. Pour sauce into greased, oblong casserole pan. Cover with shaved Jarlsberg cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (just to melt the cheese). Serve with crackers or French bread.
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